White House Clarifies Pause on Federal Aid, Says Direct Assistance to Individuals Not Affected 👉 Updatem News

‘This is not a blanket pause on federal assistance and grant programs,’ the White House press secretary said.

The Office of Management and Budget’s pause on federal grants, loans, and assistance will not affect Social Security, Medicare, or food stamps, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Jan. 28.

Leavitt clarified a Jan. 27 memorandum that suspends distributing grants, loans, and other financial assistance while the affected programs are under review, during the second Trump administration’s first White House news briefing on the afternoon of Jan. 28.

“This is not a blanket pause on federal assistance and grant programs,” she said.

The pause will not affect social assistance benefits such as Medicare and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly referred to as food stamps.

“If you are receiving individual assistance from the federal government, you will still continue to receive that,” Leavitt said. “The reason for this [pause is] to ensure that every penny that is going out the door is not conflicting with the executive orders and actions that this president has taken.”

She said that the pause was directed at diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and “Green New Deal social engineering policies.”

The pause will be temporary while the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) reviews the affected programs’ funding and whether they are “necessary and in line with the president’s agenda,” Leavitt said.

Later in the briefing, she said that she would provide a list of the programs that were affected and how much funding had been frozen.

Leavitt told reporters on Jan. 28 that the OMB had circulated a question-and-answer document that confirms that “mandatory programs like Medicaid and SNAP will continue without pause.”

Despite the OMB’s statement, several state Medicaid programs reported on Jan. 28 that they had lost access to federal portals one day after the aid freeze announcement.

Several Democratic lawmakers, including Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), reported the loss of access.

“My staff has confirmed reports that Medicaid portals are down in all 50 states following last night’s federal funding freeze,” Wyden wrote in a post on social media platform X.

Leavitt said during the Jan. 28 briefing that the pause will not affect Medicaid.

When asked to confirm that no Medicaid recipients would see a cutoff, however, she replied, “I’ll check back on that and get back to you.”

She later posted on X: “The White House is aware of the Medicaid website portal outage. We have confirmed no payments have been affected—they are still being processed and sent. We expect the portal will be back online shortly.”

Nonprofits, Health Groups Sue Over Pause

After the OMB issued the aid freeze, four groups representing small businesses, nonprofits, and public health officials filed a lawsuit to challenge the Trump administration’s efforts.

“[The pause] will have a devastating impact on hundreds of thousands of grant recipients who depend on the inflow of grant money. … to fulfill their missions, pay their employees, pay their rent—and, indeed, improve the day-to-day lives of the many people they work so hard to serve,” the lawsuit states.

The challengers—the National Council of Nonprofits, the American Public Health Association, Main Street Alliance, and SAGE, a New York LGBT nonprofit—are seeking a temporary restraining order, alleging that the Trump administration violated the Administrative Procedure Act. That law established procedural rules for how executive branch agencies implement policy.

“The Memo fails to explain the source of OMB’s purported legal authority to gut every grant program in the federal government,” the lawsuit continues.

Aldgra Fredly contributed to this report.

Original News Source Link – Epoch Times

Running For Office? Conservative Campaign Consulting – Election Day Strategies!