Trump administration reverses course on federal aid freeze after backlash

The administration of United States President Donald Trump has peeled back a memorandum concerning a federal funding freeze that caused backlash and confusion, with many fearing an end to services ranging from healthcare to housing and childcare.

However, in a social media post on Wednesday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt held firm that Trump’s executive order (EO) to pause federal spending would remain in effect.

She said the latest directive only concerned a memo released by the Office of Budget and Management (OMB) that became public earlier this week.

“This is NOT a rescission of the federal funding freeze,” Leavitt wrote. “It is simply a rescission of the OMB memo.”

The decision came as the result of a federal court decision on Tuesday to temporarily block the funding freeze, within hours of when it was supposed to go into effect.

Nonprofits had brought a legal challenge against the funding freeze, which they argued went beyond the constitutional authorities of the president.

Wednesday’s announcement is likely to contribute to the confusion regarding federal spending in the coming weeks — and whether programmes that rely on such funding would remain operational.

“The President’s EO’s on federal funding remain in full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented,” Leavitt wrote on Wednesday. Trump himself has argued his executive order was only meant to end wasteful spending.

Still, Democrats touted the announcement of the memo’s cancellation as a victory. In a social media post, for instance, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said the reversal was Trump’s “first major loss”.

“We may not have majorities in the House and the Senate, but we DO have the power to loudly educate and mobilize against the mass looting the Trump admin is attempting against our veterans, healthcare, education, and more,” she said.