White House clarifies new grant pause – Washington Examiner
The White House clarified which programs will be affected by the pause in federal grant funding ordered by President Donald Trump. Following the announcement, ther was critically important backlash from Democrats and nonprofit organizations due to the initial lack of specific guidance. Despite assurances that Medicaid and individual payments for Medicare and Social Security would continue, many states reported issues with accessing the Medicaid portal. In a follow-up memo from the office of Management and Budget (OMB), it was clarified that programs providing direct benefits to Americans, such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and others like SNAP and rental assistance, would not be paused. OMB described the pause as a necessary part of program implementation rather then a conventional “impoundment,” assuring the public that individuals receiving federal assistance would continue to do so.
Trump White House clarifies which programs are affected by pause to federal grant funding
The White House Office of Management and Budget circulated a new memo Tuesday afternoon clarifying which programs will be subject to the pause on federal grant funding President Donald Trump ordered Monday night.
Trump’s move ignited backlash Tuesday morning among Democrats and nonprofit organizations, as the administration did not provide guidance on which specific programs would be subject to the pause.
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Furthermore, multiple states reported losing access to the online Medicaid portal despite Monday assurances by the Trump administration that Medicaid payments, along with individual disbursements to Medicare and Social Security beneficiaries, would not be paused.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt faced numerous questions on the subject during her Tuesday briefing, and OMB distributed a follow-up memo Tuesday afternoon listing exceptions to Trump’s directive.
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“Any program that provides direct benefits to Americans is explicitly excluded from the pause and exempted from this review process. In addition to Social Security and Medicare, already explicitly excluded in the guidance, mandatory programs like Medicaid and SNAP will continue without pause,” the memo reads. “Funds for small businesses, farmers, Pell grants, Head Start, rental assistance, and other similar programs will not be paused.”
The memo also rejects the idea that Trump’s pause is “impoundment,” a presidential practice that allows the White House to circumvent Congress’s power of the purse that was effectively outlawed in the 1970s.
“Temporary pauses are a necessary part of program implementation that have been ordered by past presidents to ensure that programs are being executed and funds spent in accordance with a new president’s policies,” OMB wrote.
“This is not a blanket pause on federal assistance and grant programs from the Trump administration,” Leavitt added during her briefing. “I want to make that very clear to any Americans who are watching at home, who may be a little bit confused about some of the media reporting on this administration, if you are receiving individual assistance from the federal government, you will still continue to receive that. However, it is the responsibility of this president and this administration to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars. That is something that President Trump campaigned on.”
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