President Donald Trump ordered a halt to federal assistance effective Tuesday, placing a freeze on loans and grants as part of his broader plans to thoroughly review government funding and find areas for spending cuts.

The White House Office of Management and Budget issued the memo Monday night, which sought to implement the freeze beginning 5 p.m. EST on Tuesday. The order applied to all federal agencies, although White House officials said it would not extend to programs such as Medicaid or disaster relief.

However, the order was halted just moments before it was set to take effect after U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan ordered a pause in response to a lawsuit filed by a slew of nonprofit organizations.

Even before the halt, the order had already faced a flurry of possible legal battles, including from New York Attorney General Letitia James, who said in a social media post Tuesday that she would challenge Trump’s order. “My office will be taking imminent legal action against this administration’s unconstitutional pause on federal funding. We won’t sit idly by while this administration harms our families,” she said. Other challenges are expected.

Nebraska Republican Rep. Don Bacon told the Deseret News Tuesday, “It needs to be very short interruption. We have constituents who rely on some of these grants that were already awarded.”

The order was issued as Trump continues to sign a string of executive orders seeking to rein in government spending and undo policies implemented by the Biden administration that promoted diversity, equity and inclusion as well as other progressive priorities.

The order will specifically look to identify financial assistance “advancing Administration priorities” while rooting out funds that go toward “Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies,” according to the memo.

“Financial assistance should be dedicated to … focusing taxpayer dollars to advance a stronger and safer America, eliminating the financial burden of inflation for citizens, unleashing American energy and manufacturing, ending ‘wokeness’ and the weaponization of government, promoting efficiency in government, and Making America Healthy Again,” the memo states.

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The order is likely to face legal challenges as the federal funding has already been approved by Congress, which holds the power of the purse in the federal government.

However, that’s something that Trump has hinted at changing — and his eyes are set on reinstating impoundment power for the president, which would give him control over government funding.

What is impoundment?

Impoundment is an official act that allows the president to choose not to allocate funds appropriated by Congress if they disagree with the spending levels.

The power was first established under President Thomas Jefferson and lasted until Congress passed the Impoundment Control Act in 1974 due to funding disputes with then-President Richard Nixon, who was accused of withholding congressionally approved funds for programs he opposed.

While Congress is responsible for appropriating funds, the president holds the power to actually spend that money based on how lawmakers propose to allocate them. The ICA was adopted to ensure the president adheres to the appropriations laws Congress passes without delay.

The ICA still allows the president to propose spending rescissions for certain funds, but those requests must be approved by both chambers of Congress to take effect.

What has Trump said about impoundment?

Trump has repeatedly criticized the Impoundment Control Act, arguing the power to spend should lie solely with the president.

While on the campaign trail, Trump criticized the ICA as being “not a very good act” and “clearly unconstitutional, a blatant violation of the separation of powers.” Additionally, he vowed to reverse the law once taking office, either by going through the courts or through congressional action.

If successful, Trump has said he wants to “use the president’s long recognized impoundment power to squeeze the bloated federal bureaucracy for massive savings.”

The White House has clarified that Trump’s most recent action to freeze federal aid is not an act of impoundment, but rather “a temporary pause to give agencies time to ensure that financial assistance conforms to the policies set out in the President’s Executive Orders, to the extent permitted by law.”

Do other Republicans agree?

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Trump has received some support from Republican lawmakers who say they would like to return impoundment powers back to the Oval Office.

Sen. Mike Lee introduced a bill in the Senate in mid-December that would repeal the Impoundment Control Act, with the Utah Republican citing high levels of federal spending and $36 trillion in national debt over the last five decades as direct results of impoundment restrictions.

“For nearly two centuries, presidents exercised the authority to impound funds as a critical check on runaway spending,” Lee said in a statement at the time. “The ICA’s unconstitutional limitations on this power have contributed to a fiscal crisis. Repealing this law will restore the balance of power envisioned by our Constitution and empower the President to reject wasteful, unnecessary spending by administrations that voters resoundingly rejected.”

At least 18 Republicans have signed on to a similar bill in the House. Lawmakers would need to reintroduce the legislation as it has since expired in the previous Congress, but it gives a glimpse into GOP priorities for Trump’s second term.

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