The Trump administration has ordered a total freeze on all activities related to the obligation or disbursement of all federal financial assistance and other programs related to foreign aid, non-governmental organizations, diversity-related programs, woke gender ideology, and the Green New Deal, signed under the 32nd President, Franklin Roosevelt, in response to the Great Depression.
The freeze will take effect on January 28th at 5 p.m. (EST), according to the memo. Agencies within the federal government have until February 10th to submit detailed information on any programs, projects, or activities subject to the pause and how it impacts Trump’s executive orders, the memo states.
The Office of Management and Budget declared that all federal agencies, with the exception of Social Security, Medicare, and assistance provided directly to individuals (the type of direct assistance is unknown), would have to halt payments. The order may not affect low-income families receiving SNAP benefits, though it’s not clear in the details of the type of ‘direct assistance’ the order is implying. The Dept. of Education reported to NBC New York 4 that the freeze won’t affect American students receiving financial aid.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition encouraged its members to contact Congress to “resist the Trump administration’s drastic directive to withhold federal investments.” According to Politico, the new order could affect billions of dollars in grants to state and local governments while causing disruptions to programs that benefit many households.
L-R: Headstart Program, WIC Services, and Community Development Grant Program could possibly be effected by the federal program freeze: Photo Credit: via Google Image Search
Programs that could be impacted encompass funding for free breakfast and lunch for public schools, Section 8 rental assistance, Title I education grants, TANF (temporary assistance for needy families), childcare assistance grants, Head Start programs, WIC, HUD’s community development initiatives, clean water initiative grants, funding for local law enforcement, cancer research funding, wildfire preparedness for the Department of Interior, USAID foreign assistance, mine inspections, and reintegration programs for homeless veterans.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized the announcement as an example of “more lawlessness and chaos in America as Donald Trump’s administration blatantly disobeys the law by holding up virtually all vital funds that support programs in every community across the country.”