The White House walked back its order to freeze all federal aid even after several prominent Republicans defended President Donald Trump’s decision amid national pushback.
The White House Office of Management and Budget issued a memo rescinding the original order on Wednesday afternoon after a federal judge halted the freeze from taking effect the night before. It’s not clear the reason for the reversal, but it came after Democrats accused the president of withholding necessary funds from several groups.
The order also faced a flurry of legal challenges, including one from New York Attorney General Letitia James, who said in a social media post she would take “imminent legal action against this administration’s unconstitutional pause on federal funding.”
The legal challenges stemmed from questions about whether the president could legally halt funds already appropriated by Congress, which holds power of the purse in the federal government.
Although the order was revoked, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed the latest action was not a rescission of the federal freeze but rather a rescission of the memo itself, which ordered the freeze. Details were not immediately clear if some funds would still be halted.
“It is simply a rescission of the OMB memo,” Leavitt said in a statement. “Why? To end any confusion created by the court’s injunction. The president’s EO’s on federal funding remain in full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented.”
But the reversal did not come before top Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill backed Trump’s decision, with some even going so far as to praise the aid freeze as necessary action.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters on Tuesday night he “fully supports” the federal aid freeze while several other party leaders praised the move as good policy.
“President Trump is delivering on his promise to ensure your tax dollars are being spent effectively,” Rep. Tom Emmer, the party’s No. 3 leader in the House, told reporters Monday morning. “I for one am glad to have a president in the White House who is delivering on his promise to get our fiscal house in order.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., also defended the move, arguing it was “normal practice” for the start of a new administration.
“That’s a normal practice at the beginning of an administration until they have an opportunity to view how the money’s being spent,” he said on Tuesday. “This is kind of a preliminary step that I think most administrations take.”
The order prompted a moment of unity for Democrats, who planned to meet on Wednesday afternoon to strategize a “counteroffensive” messaging and legislative strategy against the measure. A group of Senate Democrats also retaliated by voting against Sean Duffy’s confirmation as Trump’s Transportation secretary despite initially backing him, with many citing Trump’s aid freeze as the reason.
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 original order sought to pause funding while the administration identified 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.