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US judge temporarily blocks Trump`s freeze on federal grants

International Desk || risingbd.com

Published: 10:50, 29 January 2025  
US judge temporarily blocks Trump`s freeze on federal grants

A US judge temporarily halted President Donald Trump's order to freeze hundreds of billions of dollars in federal grants and loans, minutes before it was set to come into effect on Tuesday, reports BBC.

Judge Loren AliKhan's order to pause the plan until next Monday at 17:00 EST (22:00 GMT) came in response to a lawsuit filed earlier in the day by a group of organisations representing grant recipients.

The lawsuit claims the White House's temporary freezing of already approved funding violates the law.

In the hours before the order was due to take effect, there was widespread confusion about which agencies and programmes would be impacted.

The acting head of the White House budget office had instructed agencies to "temporarily pause all activities related to obligations or disbursement of all federal financial assistance".

It said the move was intended to give the new administration time to assess what grants and loans were in step with their agenda.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump's plan to pause billions of dollars in US government funding was about being "good stewards of tax dollars".

Speaking to reporters in her first ever briefing, she said the pause in funding would allow governments to cut back spending for "woke" gender issues and diversity programmes.

But it prompted confusion, as well as anger from opposition figures, on Tuesday as those who receive federal loans and grants - such as non-profits and research organisations - reckoned with the reality of swiftly losing funding.

Judge AliKhan on Tuesday said she was issuing a brief stay that would "preserve the status quo" until she can hold an oral argument, now set for Monday morning.

The White House directive could have impacted billions of dollars meant for federal programmes, from disaster relief to cancer research._Agencies.

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