Trump admin puts ‘pause’ on all federal grants, loans to root out DEI, ‘woke gender ideology’, and the Green New Deal

The White House budget office has instructed federal agencies to temporarily halt all grants and loans issued by the government, according to an internal memo from Monday.

According to the Washington Post, the memo from Matthew J. Vaeth, acting director of the Trump White House Office of Management and Budget, directs agencies to “temporarily pause all activities related to obligations or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance.”

It also asks that each agency conduct a “comprehensive analysis” to ensure that its grant and loan programs comply with President Donald Trump’s executive orders.

“To implement these orders, each agency must complete a comprehensive analysis of all of their Federal financial assistance programs to identify programs, projects, and activities that may be implicated by any of the President’s executive orders,” the document reads. Such orders, the memo goes on to say, implicate policies regarding “financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal.”

Brian Riedl, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, told the Post that the order will impact tens of billions of dollars in government funds. The memo also states that in fiscal year 2024, the federal government spent over $3 trillion on financial assistance, such as grants and loans, although the Congressional Budget Office reports total federal spending for that year was $6.7 trillion.

“The funding delays are going to prove very difficult for grantees under the impression the money is coming, and have rent and salary payments dependent upon it,” Riedl added. “It seems like a very big deal.”

“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,” the memo added. The pause becomes active on January 28. 

In addition to the funding freeze, the administration has also moved quickly to freeze funding in regard to foreign aid. All this comes after Trump promised along the campaign trail to scale back the reach of government and to cut back where necessary.

Democrats, however, are furious with the order from Trump. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer posted on X, “Donald Trump’s administration is jeopardizing billions upon billions of community grants and financial support that help millions of people across the country. It will mean missed payrolls and rent payments and everything in between: chaos for everything from universities to non-profit charities, state disaster assistance, local law enforcement, aid to the elderly, and food for those in need.”