White House walks back funding freeze after a day of confusion

The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is walking back the federal funding freeze memo that set off a day of chaos and confusion on Tuesday up until a judge paused the order right before it was set to take effect.

“In light of the injunction, OMB has rescinded the memo to end any confusion on federal policy created by the court ruling and the dishonest media coverage,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. Leavitt said that other executive orders on “funding reviews” would remain in effect and that more would follow. “This action should effectively end the court case and allow the government to focus on enforcing the President’s orders on controlling federal spending. In the coming weeks and months, more executive action will continue to end the egregious waste of federal funding.”

The original memo would have paused the disbursement of federal grants and financial assistance programs, but its ambiguity and breadth led to a scramble for answers on what exactly would be impacted. The funding freeze would have likely applied to some funds for clean energy that were a hallmark of the Biden administration’s legacy. During a press briefing Tuesday, the White House fielded several questions about what exactly the original funding freeze order applied to, and clarified it would not apply to programs providing direct assistance to Americans like Medicare and Social Security. Even so, apparent technical issues with Medicaid reimbursement portals deepened the uncertainty.

Just before the freeze was set to take effect Tuesday, a judge halted it, allowing the government to continue disbursing funds that had already been authorized. The pause would expire Monday evening, however, unless the judge took further action to stop the order from taking effect. Now it seems the White House has backed off this particular court battle, as it defends other orders that Trump issued in a marathon signing session in his first week in office.