During a virtual hearing on Tuesday afternoon, a federal judge temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s freeze on all federal foreign and domestic aid. U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan issued a brief administrative stay, which came minutes before the funding freeze was scheduled to go into effect.  Judge  AliKhan said that the stay preserves federal disbursements at least until Monday at 5 p.m. EST.

Earlier on Tuesday, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget has instructed all federal agencies to cease spending on any financial assistance programs if they suspect it might conflict with President Trump’s recent executive orders. A memo from the White House budget office ordered a pause on all federal grants and loans, potentially impacting trillions in government spending and halting public programs that affect millions of Americans.  The memo stated that federal departments faced a 5 p.m. deadline Tuesday to cease spending on any financial assistance programs (per NBC NEWS.)

White House Office of Management and Budget acting director Matthew Vaeth said in the memorandum that federal agencies “must temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance.”  The memo specified the pause will not affect Social Security or Medicare benefits, nor does it include “assistance provided directly to individuals,” but it applies to other relevant agency activities that may be implicated by the executive orders, including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal.

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