A federal judge temporarily halted the Trump administration's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) memo aimed at freezing funding to various federal programs, citing concerns about potential irreparable harm. The order, issued by U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan, came after New York Attorney General Letitia James led a coalition of attorneys general in a lawsuit challenging the memo's legality. The pause affects a wide range of state programs that rely on federal funding, including Medicaid, healthcare services, disaster relief, and public education. The White House has attempted to clarify the memo's scope and reassure the public that essential programs like Social Security and Medicare will continue uninterrupted.
A federal judge temporarily halted the Trump administration's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) memo that sought to freeze funding for various federal programs. U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan, appointed by former President Joe Biden, issued an administrative stay on Tuesday afternoon, suspending the Trump administration's action until Monday. This pause came during a virtual court hearing as the 5 p.m. deadline for federal funding loomed.
AliKhan expressed concerns about potential irreparable harm, listening to arguments from a Department of Justice lawyer and a lawyer representing the plaintiffs.New York Attorney General Letitia James led a coalition of 22 other attorneys general in a lawsuit to prevent the memo's implementation. James stated that the policy 'puts an indefinite pause on the majority of federal assistance to states' and would 'immediately jeopardize state programs that provide critical health and childcare services to families in need, deliver support to public schools, combat hate crimes and violence against women, provide life-saving disaster relief to states, and more.' The coalition argued that blocking federal funds to states is unconstitutional and dangerous, emphasizing that millions of Americans rely on these programs for healthcare, family support, and community safety. They cited reports of chaos and uncertainty, including law enforcement halting drug enforcement efforts, Medicaid portals shutting down, and other essential services being disrupted.James and the attorneys general claimed that the OMB's policy has 'caused immediate chaos and uncertainty for millions of Americans' who depend on state programs funded by the federal government. They allege that essential community health centers, addiction and mental health treatment programs, services for people with disabilities, and other critical health services are 'jeopardized' by the pause. Additionally, they argued that the policy would deprive law enforcement of necessary resources and halt essential disaster relief funds for areas like California and North Carolina. While the administration attempted to clarify the scope of the OMB policy, states reported funds being frozen, jeopardizing services like Medicaid across the country. At least 20 states reportedly faced issues accessing their Medicaid reimbursement systems on Tuesday. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed the situation on X, acknowledging the Medicaid website portal outage and stating that no payments were affected. She reassured that payments were still being processed and sent, expecting the portal to be back online soon. Leavitt emphasized that the Medicaid website glitch was unrelated to the federal funding freeze. At her first press briefing, Leavitt clarified that programs directly impacting individual Americans, such as Social Security benefits, Medicare, food stamps, and welfare benefits, would remain unaffected. The OMB also issued a supplemental memo on Tuesday to alleviate confusion, stating that a pause could be as short as a day and that the OMB had already approved many programs to continue even before the pause took effect.The Department of Defense issued a statement clarifying that defense contracting is not affected by the OMB memo's scope on financial assistance. They stated they would not pause contract awards and would continue awarding new contracts to meet validated mission needs. While officials stated they were unaware of any specific contracts or activities directly impacted, they acknowledged the possibility of activities being paused if deemed within the guidance's scope. The department will expedite the analysis of its financial assistance programs to identify any programs, projects, or activities potentially affected by Trump's executive orders
Federal Funding Freeze Trump Administration OMB Memo State Programs Medicaid Healthcare Disaster Relief
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