WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump ordered a freeze starting Tuesday on potentially trillions of dollars in federal funding to Americans, impacting everything from education grants to small businesses loans — and sparking accusations that he is violating the constitution.
The order was issued by the White House budget office in a memo a week into Trump’s second term. It was not clear in the memo, signed by acting director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Matthew Vaeth, how such a pause on disbursements of funding will work or for how long.
The extraordinary measure follows a similar announcement that US foreign aid is frozen.
Trump won the presidency in part on promises to dismantle large sections of the US government and to slash spending.
However, the aggressive shake-up is also aimed at making sure that federal spending programs — and government employees — support his right-wing political goals.
A senior Trump administration official told reporters that the funding stoppage was a tool to enforce compliance. Programs that did not conflict with Trump would see their funding continue.
The order instantly sowed fear and confusion among federal grant recipients. It also sparked accusations from Democrats that the Republican president is violating the constitution by usurping Congress’s power to control the US budget. Federal spending included more than $3 trillion in financial assistance like grants and loans in fiscal year 2024 — all of which was approved by Congress.
The senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the pause was being enacted in a way that was in line with the law.
However, Democratic Senator Patty Murray called the White House order “a brazen & illegal move.”
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.