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Update – 12:18 p.m.: The Wall Street Journal reports that the Trump administration rescinded its order to pause potentially trillions of dollars in federal grants, loans and other financial-assistance programs.
Yesterday, I reported that the Trump administration had ordered a temporary funding freeze for government programs. Under the directive, federal agencies have been given until Feb. 10 to provide detailed information about programs, projects, and activities affected by the pause. The memo explicitly stated that assistance provided directly to individuals, such as Medicare and Social Security, would not be impacted by this freeze.
At her first official press briefing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “This is not a blanket pause. Social Security benefits, Medicare benefits, food stamps, welfare benefits, assistance that is going directly to individuals will not be impacted by this pause.”
The administrative order from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which was temporarily blocked by a federal court late Tuesday, included a comprehensive review of approximately 2,600 programs spanning nearly every federal funding initiative.
After the judge’s ruling, the White House defended the memo, labeling any claims that the pause meant an end to Medicaid, food assistance, and other individual assistance programs a “hoax.”
The White House wrote, “Individual federal assistance programs — such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP, and other important programs — are explicitly excluded, as was made clear by Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and a memo from the Office of Management and Budget. Only unnecessary spending — such as DEI, the Green New Scam, and funding nongovernmental organizations that undermine the national interest — are included in President Trump’s directive.”
However, Medicaid, Head Start and numerous other programs do help millions of Americans, but the federal government distributes the money to state and local governments and non-profits, such as the Council on Aging and Opening Doors, not to individuals.
On my podcast, the Council on Aging’s Alesia Macklin and Emily Echevarria said the freeze could leave thousands of vulnerable seniors and children without critical services in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. The affected services include Meals on Wheels, case management, adult daycare, and senior volunteer initiatives.
“All of that goes away. All of that goes away,” emphasized Macklin, President of Florida AmeriCorps Seniors, describing the immediate impact on homebound seniors who rely on daily meal deliveries and wellness checks. She noted that some elderly residents are so isolated that “the only person they see is the person who brings in their Meals on Wheels.”
Opening Doors Northwest Florida told its supporters and providers: “This memo could directly impact federal homeless assistance programs, such as the Continuum of Care (CoC) and Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG). Currently, this includes possible delays in the disbursement of funds for existing CoC and ESG programs through the electronic payment system eLOCCS. At this time, this system is down for CoC Grantees and impacts other homeless assistance programs (e.g., SSVF, RHY, VAWA, VOCA, HOPWA, etc.). Additionally, new funding opportunities for upcoming rounds of homeless assistance grants have been temporarily suspended.”
Listen to my Council on Aging interview on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Featured Photo: Licensed under the Unsplash+ License