President Trump’s decision will impact health care research, food assistance, and funding for veterans and disability organizations.

On Tuesday, Judge Loren AliKhan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia blocked the Donald Trump administration’s planned freeze on federal grants, loans and other financial assistance. She paused the plan for a week and scheduled a hearing for further arguments next Monday.

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Previously, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on Monday issued a memo ordering a temporary halt to “all federal financial assistance,” saying that this temporary pause will provide the administration 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.”

“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 (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion), woke gender ideology, and the green new deal,” the memo said.

Earlier on Tuesday, advocacy groups representing non-profits and small businesses filed a case in the federal court, arguing the memo is “devoid of any legal basis or the barest rationale” and “will have a devastating impact on hundreds of thousands of grant recipients.”

Trump’s freeze will negatively impact health care research, food assistance, funding for veterans and disability organizations, and aid to areas devastated by wildfires in California and floods in North Carolina.

Organizations including the National Council of Nonprofits, the American Public Health Association, and the Main Street Alliance stressed that while the Trump administration has the freedom to advance its priorities, it must do so “within the confines of the law.” 

Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship has also faced legal challenges, with over 20 states already filing lawsuits against it. On Thursday, a federal judge in Seattle also issued a temporary restraining order, blocking the implementation of the order for two weeks

teleSUR/ JF Source: Xinhua

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