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President Donald Trump has ordered a pause on domestic and foreign federal aid in an apparent effort to stop the government from funding causes and activities that don't align with his conservative agenda.
According to a memo sent on Monday (January 27) by Matthew J. Vaeth, the acting director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, the federal aid freeze will affect activities in conflict with the string of executive orders Trump has signed since taking office last week, per NBC News.
“Federal agencies must temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance, and other relevant agency activities that may be implicated by the executive orders, including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal,” Vaeth said.
The pause, set to go into effect on Tuesday (January 28) at 5 p.m. ET, will allow “time to review agency programs and determine the best uses of the funding for those programs consistent with the law and the President’s priorities," the memo states.
Monday's memo didn't name all the groups or programs that would be affected by the freeze. Still, it emphasized that federal aid must align with Trump's conservative agenda outlined in a series of executive orders, including ones aiming to roll back government diversity, equity, and inclusion operations and to build an Israel-style "Iron Dome" missile defense system.
The memo could affect billions of dollars in aid but did note an exception for Social Security and Medicare, saying those benefits wouldn't be affected.
Democratic lawmakers condemned the freeze, arguing that Trump's order challenges authority held exclusively by Congress.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash, leaders of the House and Senate appropriation committees, expressed their "extreme alarm about the Administration’s efforts to undermine Congress’s power of the purse, threaten our national security, and deny resources for states, localities, American families, and businesses" in a statement to the OMB.
"The scope of what you are ordering is breathtaking, unprecedented, and will have devastating consequences across the country."
In a statement on X, formerly Twitter, the Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee wrote: "Hey so this is insane."
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., was also critical of the federal aid pause.
"More lawlessness and chaos in America as Donald Trump’s Administration blatantly disobeys the law by holding up virtually all vital funds that support programs in every community across the country. If this continues, the American people will pay an awful price," he said in a statement on Monday.
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