In an unexpected memo from Donald Trump’s budget office Monday night, the new administration is ordering a “temporary pause” on “all federal financial assistance” with the exception of Medicare and Social Security payments.
A two-page document released internally late Monday night — and effective on Tuesday at 5 p.m. — orders all federal agencies to “temporarily pause” assistance programs. The memo, authored by the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, Matthew Vaeth, explicitly names aid “including, but not limited to, foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, [diversity, equity and inclusion], woke gender ideology, and the green new deal.”
Although the memo carves out Medicare and Social Security in a footnote, and says the freeze will not impact any assistance “provided directly to individuals,” it wasn’t immediately clear what other aid programs may be affected.