White House Rescinds Memo Freezing Federal Grants

On the afternoon of Wednesday, January 29th, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced that it is rescinding a memo calling for a freeze on all federal grants and loans. The memo, released on Monday evening, halted trillions of dollars in funding until February 7th so that agency leadership could ensure federal funding aligned with the Trump administration’s goals.

The memo sparked much confusion among federal agencies as to what programs would continue to receive funding. The freeze was initially supposed to begin at 5 PM on Tuesday, January 28th; however, a federal judge temporarily blocked the plan not long before it was supposed to go into effect.

Finally, on Wednesday afternoon, the White House released a two-sentence notice to agencies and departments announcing that the OMB memo was rescinded. Had the funding freeze continued, drinking water state revolving funds and other key drinking water programs would have stopped receiving federal funding.