In a broad effort to cut out government support for “woke” causes that don’t align with his agenda, President Donald Trump ordered a block on both domestic and international federal money beginning Tuesday.
Matthew J. Vaeth, acting director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, sent out a memo Monday night that NBC News was able to view. It stated that the changes will take effect at 5 p.m. ET and that they were related to a number of executive orders that Trump has signed since taking office last week.
“Funding for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal are just a few of the pertinent agency activities that may be implicated by the executive orders. Federal agencies must temporarily halt all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance,” Vaeth said.
The delay, according to the document, would give time to examine agency programs and decide how best to allocate funds for them in accordance with the law and the president’s priorities.
The message stated that direct payments to individuals as well as Social Security and Medicare would not be impacted.
Agencies must promptly identify any legally required activities or deadlines that may arise during the delay, according to Vaeth’s memo.
The email stressed that federal help must be aligned with Trump’s policy goal, which includes a flurry of executive orders that represented a significant split with President Joe Biden’s administration, but it did not specify which organizations or programs would be impacted. Trump issued additional executive orders on Monday, including ones to construct a “Iron Dome” missile defense system modeled after Israel and to rescind government diversity, inclusion, and equality initiatives.
Speaking at his Trump National Doral golf property in Miami for the House Republicans’ annual policy retreat, Trump claimed that his administration has been acting with historic speed and intensity to undo every single Biden administration failure.
Capitol Hill immediately reacted negatively to Monday’s memo because it directly challenges the powers granted to Congress alone.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a Democrat from Connecticut, and Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington, wrote to OMB to convey their “extreme alarm about the Administration’s efforts to undermine Congress’s power of the purse, threaten our national security, and deny resources for states, localities, American families, and businesses.” OMB received the letter.
The pause, they said, is illegal and unconstitutional. “The scope of what you are ordering is breathtaking, unprecedented, and will have devastating consequences across the country,” they said.
Adding his voice to the growing chorus of opposition voices criticizing the government assistance suspension was Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
The administration of Donald Trump is flagrantly breaking the law by withholding almost all essential funding that supports programs in every community across the nation, which will lead to more lawlessness and anarchy in America. The American people would suffer greatly if this keeps up,” he stated in a statement late Monday.
“They say this is only temporary, but no one should believe that,” Schumer stated. “Congress approved these investments and they are not optional; they are the law.”
Governor J.B. Pritzker of Illinois similarly declared on X that the unilateral action was unlawful.
“In Illinois, we will stand against unlawful actions that would harm millions of working families, children, and seniors,” he stated.