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Tag: federal

Musk’s DOGE takes aim at ‘viper’s nest’ federal agency

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The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is led by tech billionaire Elon Musk, is taking aim at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and, according to senior congressional sources, moved to seize control of the independent agency over the weekend.

The senior congressional sources told Fox News that more than 50 senior USAID staff members were placed on administrative leave and subjected to a gag order, meaning they were not allowed to communicate with anyone outside the agency without approval.

Signs were also removed from USAID’s headquarters in the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C., and the DOGE team took over the computer systems, the sources said. USAID is responsible for distributing civilian foreign aid and development assistance to countries around the globe. The agency managed approximately $40 billion in appropriations last year, according to the Congressional Research Service.

On Sunday, the Associated Press reported that the Trump administration placed two top security chiefs at USAID on leave after refusing to turn over classified material in restricted areas to DOGE.

RUBIO PAUSES FOREIGN AID FROM STATE DEPARTMENT AND USAID TO ENSURE IT PUTS ‘AMERICA FIRST’

The U.S. Agency of International Development flag flies in front of the agency’s headquarters building in Washington.

After initially being refused access to USAID’s classified information, DOGE eventually gained that access on Saturday, allowing them to see things like intelligence reports, a current and a former U.S. official told the AP.

The DOGE team members lacked high enough security clearance to access the information, so the two USAID security officials – John Voorhees and deputy Brian McGill – believed they were legally obligated to deny access.

On Sunday, Musk took aim at USAID on his social media platform X, saying, “USAID is a criminal organization. Time for it to die.”

AFTER RAUCOUS FIRST WEEK IN OFFICE, DONALD TRUMP TO KEEP HIS FOOT ON THE GAS

He also wrote several other posts about the agency, saying things like, “USAID was a viper’s nest of radical-left Marxists who hate America” and “USAID is evil.”

The latter was in response to a post suggesting USAID helped fund coronavirus research in Wuhan, China, which referred to an interaction posted on Forbes between Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and now former USAID Administrator Samantha Power in April 2023.

ABC News reported that those familiar with USAID were questioning whether the moves at USAID were being made in an effort to move the agency under the State Department, where there could be better accountability.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION NEEDS MORE PLANES TO CARRY OUT DEPORTATIONS: REPORT

Elon Musk jumps on stage as he joins former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pa. (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images/File)

Last week, at least 56 USAID officials were placed on administrative leave with full pay and benefits, and several hundred contractors based in Washington and elsewhere were laid off.

The actions came after Secretary of State Marco Rubio, acting on Trump’s executive order, paused all U.S. foreign assistance funded by or through the State Department and USAID.

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The 90-day pause has halted thousands of U.S.-funded humanitarian, development and security programs worldwide and forced aid organizations to lay off hundreds of employees because they can’t make payroll.

Fox News Digital’s Chris Pandolfo and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

February 3, 2025
Musk rips ‘fraudulent’ Treasury payments as reports mount DOGE has access to federal payment system

Tech billionaire Elon Musk ripped alleged “fraudulent” Treasury payments on Saturday as reports circulated that the Department of Government Efficiency has gained acces to the federal government’s payment system as the second Trump administration continues cutting what they say is government fat and overspending.

“The @DOGE team discovered, among other things, that payment approval officers at Treasury were instructed always to approve payments, even to known fraudulent or terrorist groups. They literally never denied a payment in their entire career. Not even once,” Musk, the chair of DOGE, posted early Saturday morning to X.

Musk’s post came just ahead of the New York Times reporting Saturday afternoon that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent granted DOGE personnel access to the payment system. The Treasury spends roughly $6 trillion per year on payments for federal agencies.

The ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, posted to social media on Saturday that he has also been informed that DOGE was granted access to the system.

DOGE ANNOUNCES MORE THAN $1B IN SAVINGS AFTER CANCELING 104 FEDERAL DEI CONTRACTS

Elon Musk is heading the Department of Government Efficiency. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“Sources tell my office that Treasury Secretary Bessent has granted DOGE *full* access to this system. Social Security and Medicare benefits, grants, payments to government contractors, including those that compete directly with Musk’s own companies. All of it,” Wyden posted to social media site BlueSky on Saturday evening.

DOGE’s reported access to the payment system comes after the Washington Post reported on Friday that the former acting director of the Treasury, David A. Lebryk, was planning to exit the finance department of the federal government following a clash over granting DOGE access to its payment system. Lebryk oversaw the Treasury Department in the days between President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20 and Bessent’s confirmation to lead the department on Jan. 27.

TOP DOGE LAWMAKER SAYS TRUMP ‘ALREADY RACKING UP WINS FOR TAXPAYERS’ WITH EFFICIENCY INITIATIVES

On Friday, reports also spread that civil servants within the Office of Personnel Management, which works as the federal government’s HR department, were reportedly locked from the office’s computer systems by DOGE.

Musk quipped on X on Saturday that working over the weekend is a “superpower,” where the “opposing team” disappear for two days.

“Very few in the bureaucracy actually work the weekend, so it’s like the opposing team just leaves the field for 2 days! Working the weekend is a superpower,” he posted.

‘DOGE’-MEETS-CONGRESS: GOP LAWMAKER AARON BEAN LAUNCHES CAUCUS TO HELP MUSK ‘TAKE ON CRAZYTOWN’

Trump officially created DOGE via an executive order signed on his first day in office. The EO outlines that government agency chiefs provide DOGE with access to internal government platforms such as, “software systems, and IT systems.”

“Agency Heads shall take all necessary steps, in coordination with the USDS Administrator and to the maximum extent consistent with law, to ensure USDS has full and prompt access to all unclassified agency records, software systems, and IT systems. USDS shall adhere to rigorous data protection standards,” the executive order reads.

President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office on Jan. 20, 2025. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Trump and Musk had long previewed the creation of DOGE while on the campaign trail, championing that the team would weed out overspending and fraud within the federal government. DOGE is not a government department, but instead operates as a team within the Trump administration.

Before Trump’s win in November, Musk hosted the Republican president for an interview on X in August, where Musk railed against government overspending and inflation that has gripped the nation in recent years.

President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk arrive to attend a viewing of the launch of the SpaceX Starship rocket on Nov. 19, 2024 in Brownsville, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

“A lot of people just don’t understand where inflation comes from. Inflation comes from government overspending because the checks never bounce when it’s written by the government. So if the government spends far more than it brings in, that increases the money supply. If the money supply increases faster than the rate of goods and services, that’s inflation,” Musk said during their conversation.

MUSK RENEWS HARSH REBUKE OF DEMS WHO REJECTED DEPORTING SEX OFFENDERS: VOTE OUT ‘EVERY ONE’

“So really we need to reduce our government spending, and we need to re-examine… I think we need a government efficiency commission to say like, ‘Hey, where are we spending money that’s sensible. Where is it not sensible?’”

Since its official creation last month, DOGE’s X account has provided updates on its work to cut government spending, including announcing last week that it has cut more than $1 billion from federal spending through now-defunct diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and personnel.

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Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Treasury Department on Sunday morning, but did not immediately receive replies.

February 2, 2025
DOGE announces more than $1B in savings after canceling 104 federal DEI contracts

The new federal Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced Friday that taxpayers will see just over a $1 billion savings through the elimination of 104 diversity, equity and inclusion-related (DEI) contracts.

As of Wednesday, DOGE had recorded the cancellation of 85 “DEIA” contracts from 25 federal agencies. By Friday afternoon, that number had grown to 104 contracts totaling $1,000,060,792, according to a DOGE news release.

Of note, 21 Department of the Treasury contracts were canceled, saving a total of $25,247,783. In second place was the Department of Health & Human Services, which canceled 15 contracts worth $28,187,448.

While the Office of Personnel Management only had three contracts canceled, the dollar figure was pinned at a whopping $494,956,233, an average of about $165 million per DEI contract.

TOP DOGE LAWMAKER SAYS TRUMP ‘ALREADY RACKING UP WINS FOR TAXPAYERS’ WITH EFFICIENCY INITIATIVES

The other agencies with the most contracts canceled by the Trump administration include Agriculture with 11 and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Homeland Security with seven each.

According to a release Monday from the Department of Veterans Affairs, 60 employees whose roles were solely focused on DEI were placed on administrative leave, and spokesperson Morgan Ackley said the administration is “laser focused on providing the best possible care and benefits to Veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors.”

“We are proud to have abandoned the divisive DEI policies of the past and pivot back to VA’s core mission,” Ackley said.

The rapid-fire DEI contract eliminations come one week after President Donald Trump signed an executive order targeting the endeavors, officially described as “ending illegal discrimination and restoring merit-based opportunity.”

‘DOGE’-MEETS-CONGRESS: GOP LAWMAKER AARON BEAN LAUNCHES CAUCUS TO HELP MUSK ‘TAKE ON CRAZYTOWN’

However, a consortium of liberal state attorneys general lambasted Trump with a warning that the moves “have nothing to do with combating discrimination.”

A joint statement led by Rhode Island AG Peter Neronha Friday called the executive orders that led to the dismantling of DEI policies and programs “unnecessary and disingenuous.”

Neronha and his co-signers — attorneys general from California, Illinois, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Vermont and Washington state — said they would agree to be “willing partners” in cracking down on discrimination if Trump chose instead to utilize “longstanding civil rights laws” rather than the path he has chosen.

“Contrary to President Trump’s assertions, the policies he seeks to end do not diminish the importance of individual merit, nor do they mean that employers are lowering their standards, hiring unqualified candidates, or engaging in race-and-sex-based preferences,” the statement said.

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“DEIA initiatives simply ensure that there are fair opportunities for everyone, helping to maximize contributions from all employees and enabling businesses and organizations to succeed in their missions.”

In Congress, Rep. Aaron Bean and Sen. Joni Ernst have been leading DOGE efforts to further curtail government waste and abuse.

Bean, a Republican from Jacksonville, Florida, founded the Congressional DOGE Caucus in November, and Ernst, Iowa, has led the charge to lobby for return-to-work requirements for federal employees and sales of unused or underused federal office space.

Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital.

He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant.

Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.

Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to [email protected].

January 31, 2025
Trump administration to pause federal government websites in effort to eliminate DEI, anti-Trump content

The Trump administration will put a pause on most federal government websites Friday evening in an effort to eliminate DEI content and any language opposed to President Trump’s agenda, Fox News Digital has learned.

A Trump administration official told Fox News Digital that federal government websites are expected to go dark at around 5:00 p.m. Friday evening.

The official told Fox News Digital that the length of the pause on federal websites is unclear at this time, but will seek to remove content that is “anti-Trump administration.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Brooke Singman is a political correspondent and reporter for Fox News Digital, Fox News Channel and FOX Business.

January 31, 2025
Federal court rules ATF age limits on handgun sales violate Second Amendment

A federal appeals court on Thursday ruled a nationwide ban on handgun sales to young adults is unconstitutional.

A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans found a federal law that prohibits adults aged 18-20 from buying handguns violates the Second Amendment. The ruling comes as key firearms regulations have been struck down across the country following a landmark Supreme Court decision that expanded gun rights in 2022.

“Ultimately, the text of the Second Amendment includes eighteen-to-twenty-year-old individuals among ‘the people’ whose right to keep and bear arms is protected,” the opinion of the court states. The decision refers the case back to a lower court judge.

MASSIE AND OTHER REPUBLICANS PUSH ‘NATIONAL CONSTITUTIONAL CARRY ACT’ TO PROTECT AMERICANS’ GUN RIGHTS

Customers shop for handguns at the Des Moines Fairgrounds Gun Show at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa, in March 2023. (Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)

Previously, the appeals court had upheld the requirement that adults must be at least 21 to purchase a handgun. But since the Supreme Court’s decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, judges are required to determine if a firearm restriction being challenged is firmly rooted in the nation’s historical traditions. Judges in Minnesota, Virginia and Texas have already found that state laws restricting handgun sales to young adults do not pass that test.

The Biden administration fought those rulings, but the Trump administration is expected to be friendlier towards gun rights. At a National Rifle Association event last year during the presidential campaign, President Donald Trump said, “no one will lay a finger on your firearms.”

Constitutional law attorney and Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley observed that the Trump administration may not appeal the fifth circuit’s decision, which could mean the Supreme Court will not have a chance to review it.

“For gun rights advocates, it may have been better if this decision had been handed down during the Biden Administration,” Turley posted on X. “The Trump Administration will likely support the ruling and not appeal to the Supreme Court. Such an appeal could have extended this precedent nationally.”

BIDEN ADMIN DROPS ITS ‘ZERO TOLERANCE’ POLICY TARGETING GUN DEALER LICENSES OVER PAPERWORK ERRORS

Federal law prohibits handgun sales to young adults under 21 years of age. (Reuters )

The Supreme Court, meanwhile, decided to keep a federal gun law on the books last year. The high court overturned a different ruling from the 5th Circuit and upheld a law intended to protect victims of domestic violence.

“Today’s ruling is yet another critical FPC win against an immoral and unconstitutional age-based gun ban,” said Firearms Policy Coalition President Brandon Combs in a statement. Two FPC members sued to overturn the law, along with the Second Amendment Foundation and the Louisiana Shooting Association.

SUPREME COURT MAKES DECISION ON GUN LAW CHALLENGES IN DELAWARE, MARYLAND

The U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo)

“We look forward to restoring the Second Amendment rights of all peaceable adults throughout the United States,” Combs added.

Federal law requires a person to be 21 to purchase a handgun from a licensed firearm dealer and 18 to buy a long gun from a dealer, according to Everytown for Gun Safety. There is an 18-year-old minimum for handgun purchases from unlicensed sellers and no minimum age for long guns, according to the group’s research.

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“The law that prohibits dealers from selling handguns to those under twenty-one is both constitutional and crucial for public safety,” said Janet Carter, senior director of issues and appeals at Everytown Law. “Firearms are the leading cause of death for children and teens, and 18-to-20-year-olds commit gun homicides at triple the rate of adults 21 and over, according to FBI statistics.”

“We hope the federal government will fight this reckless ruling by seeking rehearing en banc, or taking the case directly to the Supreme Court. We look forward to supporting the defense of this common sense law.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Chris Pandolfo is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital. Send tips to [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @ChrisCPandolfo.

January 31, 2025
Federal Reserve holds interest rates steady amid inflation uncertainty

Kudlow panelists John Carney and Brian Brenberg discuss job growth and the Feds moves.

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday announced that it will leave interest rates unchanged amid uncertainty about inflation and economic conditions.

The Fed’s decision leaves the benchmark federal funds rate at a range of 4.25% to 4.5% and follows three consecutive interest rate cuts at the central bank’s most recent meetings – including a 50-basis-point cut in September as well as a pair of 25-basis-point reductions in November and December.

“Recent indicators suggest that economic activity has continued to expand at a solid pace,” wrote members of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the group responsible for guiding the Fed’s monetary policy. “The unemployment rate has stabilized at a low level in recent months, and labor market conditions remain solid. Inflation remains somewhat elevated.”

The FOMC statement said that the Fed continues to pursue its dual mandate of achieving maximum employment and inflation at 2% over the longer run. It added that the “economic outlook is uncertain, and the Committee is attentive to risks to both sides of its dual mandate.”

FOMC members were unanimous in the decision to leave rates unchanged at this time. The committee’s statement added that policymakers “would be prepared to adjust the stance of monetary policy as appropriate if risks emerge that could impede the attainment of the Committee’s goals” and that it will consider a range of information including labor market data, inflation pressures and expectations, as well as financial and international developments as it considers its next move.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell will outline the central bank’s decision at a press conference where he will likely face questions about how policymakers view the impact of President Donald Trump’s economic agenda. He may also face questions about whether they considered his call for lower interest rates in their decision.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

January 29, 2025
Trump proposes abolishment of federal income tax, bringing US back to ‘richest period’ in history

‘The Big Money Show’ discusses President Donald Trump’s ‘aggressive’ economic agenda.

Pitching a monumental and potentially controversial proposal to his Republican allies, President Donald Trump is seemingly floating the idea of scrapping federal income taxes altogether.

“We had no income tax. The income tax came in…1913. As I said in my speech last week, instead of taxing our citizens to enrich foreign nations, we should be tariffing and taxing foreign nations to enrich our citizens,” Trump said during his conference address in Doral, Florida, on Monday.

“It’s time for the United States to return to the system that made us richer and more powerful than ever before,” he added. “You know, the United States in 1870 to 1913, all tariffs. And that was the richest period in the history of the United States, relatively speaking.”

The first federal income tax was passed on February 25, 1913, as part of the 16th Amendment. This gave Congress constitutional authority to levy taxes on corporate and individual income, according to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

WHITE HOUSE ECONOMIST TEASES THE ‘BIGGEST’ FISCAL REFORM ‘AMERICAN HAS EVER SEEN’

U.S. Treasury data indicates that $4.92 trillion was collected in federal income taxes for the 2023 filing year. But as Trump plans to create a new “External Revenue Service” that would be tasked with collecting revenue from tariffs, economists and market experts seem mixed, with some pushing back and noting that U.S. importers bear the brunt of the cost of tariffs rather than firms overseas.

President Donald Trump pitched the idea to eliminate federal income tax during his address at a GOP conference in Doral, Florida, on Monday. (Getty Images)

“Tariffs are not external revenue; they are taxes on U.S. importers that shrink both the U.S. economy and U.S. incomes. Higher tariffs will create a drag on the U.S. economy and will threaten to offset the benefits of tax cuts elsewhere. They should not be relied upon as a major source of tax revenue,” Tax Foundation Vice President Erica York previously told FOX Business.

“Markets like certainty. So if you tell me, ‘10% tariff,’ if I’m a company like GM, I can handle that,” Taylor Riggs, “The Big Money Show” co-host, pointed out on Tuesday. “If you tell me that every month it’s going up by 2.5%, I have a hard time planning around that, because how do I figure out: do I buy the goods now? What if the tariffs go up? Is it a negotiating tool?”

“This whole idea about eliminating the income tax, or redefining it and coming in with a 10% tariff tax and giving an income tax break to Americans, encourages them to work more, in my opinion, encourages them to spend more, in my opinion,” Slatestone Wealth chief market strategist Kenny Polcari also chimed in.

Trump senior advisor for trade and manufacturing Peter Navarro discusses the battle over TikTok and bringing ‘prosperity’ to the United States on ‘The Claman Countdown.’

“So then you end up having a stronger and better economy,” Polcari continued. “I think the market likes it.”

During his successful campaign to return to the White House, Trump touted plans to impose an across-the-board tariff of 10% or 20% – as well as a larger tariff of 60% on goods imported from China.

He also threatened to impose a 25% tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico, which are both parties to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) – a free trade agreement Trump negotiated during his first term as a successor to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

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Walser Wealth Management President Rebecca Walser and Culture+Group CEO and co-founder Lili Gil Valletta discuss which world leaders will cave to President Trump’s tariff threats on ‘Making Money.’

More recently, President Trump also teased moving nearly 90,000 IRS agents hired under the Biden administration to the border to patrol the area.

Democrats in 2022 approved $80 billion in funding for the IRS, including hiring roughly 87,000 new agents across a 10-year period as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. President Joe Biden signed the legislation into law that year.

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FOX Business’ Eric Revell and Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report.

January 29, 2025
Trump admin withdraws proposed federal ban on menthol cigarettes

The Trump administration’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) formally withdrew a proposed rule seeking to ban menthol cigarettes, after the Biden administration said it intended to make the ban become a reality after years of advocacy from anti-smoking groups.

Efforts to ban menthol cigarettes have been ongoing for multiple administrations, but, in April 2021, the Biden administration’s FDA announced plans to finalize the rule. The move was met with praise from anti-smoking advocates, such as the Truth Initiative, which argue that menthol in cigarettes makes them more addictive and disproportionately impacts minority communities.

The Biden administration subsequently delayed implementation of the rule out of concern that more time was needed to consider public comments and concerns.

DIET AND NUTRITION EXPERTS WEIGH IN ON HOW RFK JR’S NOMINATION COULD IMPACT HOW WE EAT

President Biden and menthol cigarettes (Getty Images)

But a regulatory filing from President Donald Trump’s Office of Management and Budget, which oversees the federal rulemaking process, slashed any hopes that the ban might come back any time soon. According to the filing, Trump moved to rescind the proposed rule during his first day in office.

When reached for comment, the FDA cited an ongoing communications freeze imposed on all Health and Human Services Department sub-agencies.

HHS WILL REEVALUATE PROGRAMS, REGULATIONS TO ENSURE TAXPAYER FUNDS ARE NOT PAYING FOR ELECTIVE ABORTIONS

“It is deeply disappointing that the FDA’s rule to prohibit menthol cigarettes was not finalized in a timely manner and has now been withdrawn,” the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids said in a statement. “We strongly support eliminating menthol cigarettes to end the tobacco industry’s decades-long, predatory marketing of these deadly products to kids, Black Americans and other communities.”

Packs of Newport cigarettes are seen on a shelf in a grocery store in the Flatbush neighborhood on April 29, 2021 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.

The campaign said it will remain committed to building support to eliminate menthol cigarettes nationwide, noting “it is more critical than ever that states and cities step up their efforts to end the sale of menthol cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products.”

Those challenging a menthol cigarette ban, meanwhile, argue the move could create a massive black market for cigarettes. People against the ban also fear the impact it could have on policing in minority communities.

THE YEAR IN CANCER: ADVANCES MADE IN 2024, PREDICTIONS FOR 2025

A woman in New York City holds up a sign on the steps of City Hall on March 9, 2023 in New York City. Members of Mothers of the Movement, a group of women whose African American children have been killed by police officers or by gun violence, held a rally against racism, inequality, and policies targeting people of color.

“Remember Eric Garner? New York City’s exorbitant taxes on cigarette packages generated an underground market in untaxed individual cigarettes, called ‘loosies.’ In 2014, police infamously encountered 43-year-old Eric Garner selling loosies on a street corner, and a policeman’s chokehold led to his death as he repeated ‘I can’t breathe.’ And this happened without a menthol ban,” Jeffrey Singer, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute’s Department of Health Studies, wrote after the Biden administration moved to finalize the ban.

“With menthol cigarettes more prevalent among Black and Hispanic Americans, expect police to focus their attention on minority communities. This might make inequities in criminal justice even worse.”

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While Trump signaled he is against banning menthol cigarettes, the president did act during his first term to ban most flavored e-cigarette pods used in disposable nicotine vapes. However, while the ban prohibited future sales of sweet- and fruit-flavored nicotine cartridges, it permitted continued sales of pods that are either menthol or tobacco flavored.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.

January 29, 2025
Judge pauses Trump administration’s federal funding freeze

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the pause on federal financial assistance will not include food stamps, Social Security, or Medicare and welfare benefits.

A federal judge on Tuesday paused the Trump administration’s Office of Management and Budget memo, which aimed to freeze funding to various federal programs.

U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan for the District of Columbia, a judge appointed by former President Joe Biden, imposed an administrative stay on Tuesday afternoon, pausing the Trump administration’s action.

AliKhan ordered the pause on disbursements be stayed until Feb. 3 at 5 p.m.

During a virtual court hearing, AliKhan heard from a Department of Justice lawyer and a lawyer for the plaintiffs, as the 5 p.m. deadline for federal funding was ticking down.

A federal judge halted the Trump administration’s temporary federal funding freeze.

“I do think there is the spector of irreparable harm,” AliKhan said.

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AliKhan scheduled a hearing on the full temporary restraining order for Feb. 3 at 11 a.m.

Earlier in the day, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified that the federal grants and loans pause would not impact individual assistance going directly to Americans.

January 28, 2025
White House sets record straight about impact of Trump’s federal funding freeze

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the pause on federal financial assistance will not include food stamps, Social Security, or Medicare and welfare benefits.

Following the temporary freeze on federal assistance, ordered by the Trump administration’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Americans may be wondering if the freeze will impact them.

In her first official press briefing Tuesday afternoon, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified that the federal grants and loans pause will not impact individual assistance going directly to Americans.

The OMB confirmed the freeze does not apply to student loans and Pell Grants, as the order clearly states financial assistance to “individuals” is exempt.

The pause, which will take effect at 5 p.m. Tuesday and remain in effect pending a review by the Trump administration, will also not impact Social Security, food stamps, or Medicare and welfare benefits, Leavitt confirmed.

BIDEN’S LATEST ROUND OF STUDENT LOAN HANDOUTS BRINGS ADMIN TOTAL TO MORE THAN 5 MILLION

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks at the daily briefing at the White House in Washington on Tuesday. (AP / AP Images)

FOX Business previously reported the pause is limited to programs, projects and activities that may be impacted by President Donald Trump’s executive orders.

Some of those programs include diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), the Green New Deal, and funding nongovernmental organizations that contradict the national interest.

Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary, during a news conference in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. ( Samuel Corum/Politico/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

After agencies complete a comprehensive analysis of their federal financial assistance programs, which will be required by Feb. 10, they will be reviewed for consistency with the president’s priorities.

The memo noted the federal government spent more than $3 trillion on federal assistance in the 2024 fiscal year, according to previous reporting.

NEW YORK REPUBLICAN PROPOSES TO SLASH STUDENT LOAN INTEREST RATES

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified what will be impacted by President Donald Trump’s freeze on federal assistance. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images / Getty Images)

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told The Wall Street Journal that the freeze “will mean missed payrolls and rent payments and everything in between: chaos for everything from universities to non-profit charities, state disaster assistance, local law enforcement, aid to the elderly, and food for those in need.”

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FOX Business requested comment from Schumer following Leavitt’s remarks, but did not immediately receive a response.

The pause could be as short as a day, White House officials told FOX Business. Agencies can also request exemptions on a case-by-case basis.

Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace contributed to this story.

January 28, 2025