According to a White House budget office directive, federal assistance funding must be frozen by Tuesday at 5 p.m. This could include state and local government grants, nonprofit organizations, universities, small business loans, and help.
The White House points out that $3 trillion was spent on government assistance programs in 2024, suggesting that the freeze may have far-reaching effects.
“This memorandum requires Federal agencies to identify and review all Federal financial assistance programs and supporting activities consistent with the President’s policies and requirements,” the document states.
The document was leaked Monday night, and the White House has yet to reply. CBS News has attested to its legitimacy.
The Office of Management and Budget’s memo from Monday night instructs government departments to evaluate whether President Trump’s executive orders are being followed, with a focus on “DEI, woke gender ideology, and the Green New Deal.” Given that the Green New Deal was never enacted into law, it is unclear exactly what these measures are referring to.
“The use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve,” the memo states.
According to the White House document, it won’t have an impact on Social Security or Medicare benefits.
On Tuesday morning, Democrats were already attacking. At a press conference, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer vehemently denounced the action, stating that “in an instant, Donald Trump has shut off billions, perhaps trillions, of dollars that directly support states, cities, towns, schools, hospitals, small businesses, and most of all, families.”
Schumer declared, “This is a dagger at the heart of the average American family,” and he and his Democratic colleagues are getting a “deluge” of calls to their offices from individuals who are terrified of what the memo would mean for them.
“This decision is lawless, dangerous, destructive, cruel. It’s illegal, it’s unconstitutional,” Schumer stated. “Plain and simple, this is Project 2025.”
In a social media post, National Council of NGOs president and CEO Diane Yentel described the directive as a “potential 5-alarm fire for nonprofits.”
“From pausing research on cures for childhood cancer to closing homeless shelters, halting food assistance, reducing safety from domestic violence, and shutting down suicide hotlines, the impact of even a short pause in funding could be devastating and cost lives,” Yentel stated. “This order could decimate thousands of organizations and leave neighbors without the services they need.”
Legal issues could arise at any time
Legal challenges from organizations that were supposed to get the now-frozen monies are likely to follow the memo, and they might happen soon.
The Justice Department may eventually ask the Supreme Court for emergency relief if lower courts issue orders instructing agencies to turn the spigot back on while legal procedures continue.
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The budget office’s decision to temporarily withhold federal funds, according to critics of the Trump administration’s most recent action, breaches the Impoundment Control Act, a 1974 legislation that establishes the parameters for the president’s authority to freeze specific funds appropriated by Congress.
During his confirmation hearing last week, Russ Vought, Mr. Trump’s choice to head the Office of Management and Budget, stated that the president thinks the Impoundment Control Act is unconstitutional and that he concurs with that conclusion.
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The senior Democratic appropriator, Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, called the letter a “brazen and illegal move” with a “unprecedented” breadth and said she is encouraging Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican appropriator, to block Vought’s candidacy for OMB director.
“Republicans should not advance that nomination out of committee until the Trump administration follows the law,” Murray stated.
