Trump’s CBO Office Orders Pause of All Federal Loans and Grants

A two-page memo from the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget orders a pause in grants, loans and other federal financial assistance, upending funds that flow through vast swaths of programs that Americans count on.

The order would upend payments approved by Congress and provided by taxpayers to various sources, including:

  • Grants to state, local, and tribal governments
  • Disaster relief aid
  • Education funding
  • Transportation funding
  • Loans to small businesses

Nongovernmental organizations including non-profit groups would also be affected. Spokesperson for the National Council of Nonprofits called it a potential five-alarm fire.

“From pausing research on cures for childhood cancer to halting food assistance, safety from domestic violence and closing suicide hotlines, the impact of even a short pause in funding could be devastating and cost lives.”

The memo, below, is sweeping and yet broadly ambiguous.

“The use of federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism and Green New Deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve,” OMB Director Matthew Vaeth states.

There was a carve-out for “assistance received directly by individuals,” as well as Medicare and Social Security benefits, but also acknowledged the legal limits of executive power to interfere in legally mandated programs, saying that agencies should carry out the pause “to the extent permissible under applicable law.”

New York Times, CNN