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Trump warns agency leaders against ‘wasteful spending’ in new memo

President Donald Trump issued an unsmiling warning to bureaucrats on Tuesday, ordering that leaders of government agencies begin to be “radically transparent” about spending.

The White House published a memo entitled “Radical Transparency About Wasteful Spending” on Tuesday afternoon, directed at the heads of executive departments and agencies.

The memo begins by arguing that the American government “spends too much money on programs, contracts, and grants that do not promote the interests of the American people.”

“For too long, taxpayers have subsidized ideological projects overseas and domestic organizations engaged in actions that undermine the national interest,” the note continues. “The American people have seen their tax dollars used to fund the passion projects of unelected bureaucrats rather than to advance the national interest.”

HOMAN TAKES VICTORY LAP AFTER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CROSSINGS PLUMMET DURING TRUMP ADMIN: ‘HE IS DELIVERING’

U.S. President Donald Trump steps from Air Force One upon arrival in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., February 16, 2025. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

“The American people have a right to see how the Federal Government has wasted their hard-earned wages.”

Trump continued the memo by ordering that all heads of executive departments and agencies must “take all appropriate actions to make public, to the maximum extent permitted by law…the complete details of every terminated program, cancelled contract, terminated grant, or any other discontinued obligation of Federal funds.”

“Agencies shall ensure that such publication occurs in accordance with all applicable laws, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the underlying contract, grant, or other award,” Trump continued.

EMMANUEL MACRON CALLS ‘EMERGENCY MEETING’ FOR EUROPEAN LEADERS TO DISCUSS TRUMP: REPORT

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters in the Oval Office of the White House, where he signed an executive order, on Thursday, Feb. 13. (AP/Ben Curtis)

The memo came as Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) commission continues to audit government agencies with a mission to reduce waste. On Monday night, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt appeared on “Hannity” to express support for DOGE’s audits.

“[L]isten to the words from those Democrat politicians, you would think you are listening to President Trump, Elon Musk and our entire administration, who are saying the exact same things that Democrat politicians promised the American people they would do for decades,” Leavitt said. “President Trump is just the first president in our lifetimes to actually do it.”

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U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media before boarding Marine One at the White House in Washington, D.C. on January 31, 2025. (BRYAN DOZIER/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

“And now you see the Democrat Party and the mainstream media spiraling out of control about a very simple promise: rooting out waste, fraud and abuse from our federal bureaucracy,” she continued. “This is a promise President Trump campaigned on. He is now delivering on it.”

Andrea Margolis is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. Readers can send story tips to [email protected].

February 18, 2025
Trump USAID moves backed by new House GOP talking points memo

EXCLUSIVE: An internal memo being circulated to House Republicans is urging lawmakers to argue that President Donald Trump’s handling of foreign aid is “already paying dividends” and that the Biden administration spent that money on initiatives like “a transgender opera in Colombia through the State Department.”

The three-page document, obtained by Fox News Digital through a House GOP source, is being sent to members of Republican leadership as well as lawmakers on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

It includes two pages of recommended talking points, including, “America is spending $40 billion in foreign aid annually. Much of those aid dollars are not even reaching the intended recipients and are instead propping up an NGO industrial complex that has, for years, swindled the American taxpayer.”

The memo urged Republicans to argue Trump’s freeze on foreign aid “is needed because it’s nearly impossible to evaluate foreign aid programs when they are on autopilot.”

SCOOP: KEY CONSERVATIVE CAUCUS DRAWS RED LINE ON HOUSE BUDGET PLAN

President Trump rolled back USAID in recent days. (Getty Images/File)

“A 90-day review period, with commonsense waivers for truly life-threatening situations, is the only way to give the State Department the time needed to root out waste,” it said.

The State Department issued a freeze on most federal foreign aid days after Trump was sworn into office. Within recent days, Trump and Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) have also led a significant scale-back of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), including making Secretary of State Marco Rubio its acting head.

Opponents of the moves have said it would embolden authoritarian governments that want to see the United States’ stature on the world stage diminished and that it would imperil thousands of lives abroad that depend on the aid.

But Republicans like House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Brian Mast, R-Fla., a top Trump ally, argue that the moves are justified to evaluate what money is actually going to foreign assistance that aligns with Trump’s agenda.

“America’s foreign aid is not charity and its goal should not be to advance DEI abroad,” the committee wrote on X on Monday.

NONCITIZEN VOTER CRACKDOWN LED BY HOUSE GOP AHEAD OF 2026 MIDTERMS

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Brian Mast is a top Trump ally. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images/File)

The memo also encouraged lawmakers to point out existing exceptions for “emergency food assistance” and “life-saving medicine, medical services, food, shelter, and subsistence assistance, as well as supplies and reasonable administrative costs as necessary to deliver such assistance.”

The third page is dedicated to highlighting where committee Republicans tracked foreign aid as going toward, including “$39,652 to host seminars at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on gender identity and racial equality through the State Department” and “$425,622 to help Indonesian coffee companies become more climate and gender friendly through USAID.”

Other priorities listed included “$14 million in cash vouchers for migrants at the southern border through the State Department,” “$446,700 to promote the expansion of atheism in Nepal through the State Department” and “$32,000 for an LGBTQ-centered comic book in Peru.”

A group of House Democrats said they were denied entry into USAID headquarters on Monday amid reports of a scale-back in senior officials and others.

“We are not going to let this injustice happen. Congress created this agency with the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, and if you want to change it, you got to change that law,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va.

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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images/File)

It’s not clear if all Republicans are on board with Trump’s push, however. A vote to defund USAID last year led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., failed with 127 GOP lawmakers voting against it, compared to 81 in support.

But Trump’s handling of foreign aid has been backed by Republicans known to be national security hawks, including previous House Foreign Affairs Chair Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas.

“President Trump and his team are right to scrutinize and revamp U.S. foreign aid distribution to ensure every taxpayer dollar serves its intended purpose. And I am optimistic they will do it in a way that strengthens the intention behind these programs and strengthens our national security,” McCaul said.

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to [email protected]

February 5, 2025
Trump to sign memo lifting Biden’s last-minute collective bargaining agreements made before leaving office

FIRST ON FOX: President Donald Trump is expected to sign a memo Friday to lift the collective bargaining agreements former President Joe Biden put into effect before leaving office, Fox News Digital has learned.

The president’s memo will direct federal agencies to reject last-minute collective bargaining agreements issued by the Biden administration, which White House officials said were designed to “constrain” the Trump administration from reforming the government.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OFFERS BUYOUTS TO FEDERAL EMPLOYEES, INCLUDING REMOTE WORKERS: ‘DEFERRED RESIGNATION’

President Donald Trump speaks to the media after signing executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C, on Jan. 23, 2025. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)

The memo prohibits agencies from making new collective bargaining agreements during the final 30 days of a president’s term. It also directs agency heads to disapprove any collective bargaining agreements that Biden put through during the final 30 days of his term.

The White House said collective bargaining agreements enacted before that time period will remain in effect while the Trump administration “negotiates a better deal for the American people.”

Biden’s Social Security Administration Commissioner Martin O’Malley in December 2024 came to an agreement with the American Federation of Government Employees guaranteeing that the agency’s 42,000 employees would not have to come into the office during the Trump administration.

President Joe Biden meets with President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (Evan Vucci/The Associated Press)

The White House told Fox News Digital that the new policy “ensures the American people get the policies they voted for, instead of being stuck with the wasteful and ineffective Biden policies rejected at the ballot box.”

‘GET BACK TO WORK’: HOUSE OVERSIGHT TO TAKE ON GOVERNMENT TELEWORK IN 1ST HEARING OF NEW CONGRESS

“The outgoing Biden administration negotiated lame-duck, multi-year collective bargaining agreements—during the week before the inauguration—in an attempt to tie the incoming Trump administration’s hands,” a White House fact sheet on the memo obtained by Fox News Digital states.

The White House pointed to the Biden administration’s Department of Education’s agreement that prohibited the return of remote employees and agreements for the Biden Small Business Administration and Federal Trade Commission.

The president’s new memo also is aimed to ensure that federal government agencies operate under similar rules as private sector unions and employers. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“These CBAs attempt to prevent President Trump from implementing his promises to the American people, such as returning Federal employees to the office to make government operate more efficiently,” the fact sheet states. “President Biden’s term of office ended on January 20th. Under this memorandum, he and future Presidents cannot govern agencies after leaving office by locking in last-minute CBAs.”

WHITE HOUSE OPM ORDERS ALL DEI OFFICES TO BEGIN CLOSING BY END OF DAY WEDNESDAY

The president’s new memo also is aimed to ensure that federal government agencies operate under similar rules as private sector unions and employers.

The memo comes after the White House Office of Personnel Management (OPM) directed agency and department heads to notify employees by the new return to in-person work order. That order required employees to work full-time in the office unless excused due to disability or qualifying medical conditions.

TRUMP WILL FIGHT BIDEN REMOTE WORK DEAL; UNION VOWS TO FIGHT BACK

And this week, OPM sent emails to the full federal workforce offering the option of resignation with full pay and benefits until Sept. 30 if they do not want to return to the office. Those workers have until Feb. 6 to decide.

The federal workers that did not get that option work as postal workers, military immigration officials, some national security officials, and any positions agencies decide to carve out.

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

January 31, 2025
Trump Panama Canal plans get boost from Republicans leaders: Internal House memo

EXCLUSIVE: House Republican leadership is encouraging lawmakers to back up President Donald Trump’s desire to return the Panama Canal to U.S. ownership, a new memo suggests.

The House GOP Policy Committee, led by Chairman Kevin Hern, R-Okla., the No. 5 House Republican leader, sent the document to legislative directors across the conference on Wednesday.

The two-page memo, simply titled “Panama Canal,” begins by highlighting Trump’s past comments about China’s influence over the Panama Canal and his goal of “taking it back.”

It also noted that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will be visiting Panama on his first trip as Trump’s top diplomat.

MARCO RUBIO HEADING TO PANAMA ON FIRST TRIP AS SECRETARY OF STATE

Split image of Trump and the Panama Canal (Jim WATSON/AFP, left, ARNULFO FRANCO/AFP, right.)

The next section details the history of the U.S. and the Panama Canal: “The Panama Canal was built by the U.S. between 1904 and 1914. The canal was leased to the U.S. for nearly 75 years under the Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty of 1903 which established the Panama Canal Zone and the subsequent construction of the Panama Canal.”

It also points out that it was under the late former President Jimmy Carter that Panama was given control of the canal, via treaties later criticized by Trump.

The treaties with Carter “gave the U.S. the permanent explicit right to intervene to keep the canal open in the event of any threat that may interfere with the canal’s continued neutral service to ships from all nations,” the memo said before laying out arguments for why Republicans believe Panama has since violated its end of the deal.

“About 5% of global maritime traffic passes through the Panama Canal, saving 6,835 miles off a journey that would otherwise require a long and dangerous trip skirting the southern tip of South America,” the memo states. “The United States is Panama’s largest provider of foreign direct investment—$3.8 billion annually.”

RUSSIA SOUNDS OFF ON TRUMP’S THREAT TO RETAKE THE PANAMA CANAL

House GOP Policy Chair Kevin Hern is the No. 5 House Republican leader. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, “Chinese companies now operate ports at both ends of the canal. Chinese construction companies in 2018 funded a $1.4 billion bridge project spanning the canal,” it reads.

“The treaties require that transit fees be ‘just, reasonable, equitable, and consistent with international law,”’ and that Panama maintain the canal’s permanent neutrality,” the memo said. “The high fees charged by Panama as well as Panama’s openness to investment by the Chinese Communist Party in the canal zone are likely both in breach of the terms of the treaties.”

Congress has already granted the president wide authority over international commerce in the event of an emergency, but GOP lawmakers have signaled they want to ease those guardrails further.

Main Street Caucus Chairman Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., introduced a bill earlier this month to let Trump re-purchase the Panama Canal for the U.S.

A short while later, freshman Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va., unveiled legislation to widen Trump’s non-emergency tariff power.

And Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., has a bill to authorize Trump to enter into negotiations to buy Greenland.

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The memo from Hern’s policy committee is notable, however, as an apparent subtle marching order to the House GOP conference to continue down that path.

It could also likely embolden Republican lawmakers to find legislative avenues to further back up Trump’s push to purchase the canal, particularly given the Panamanian government’s opposition to the U.S. president’s plan.

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to [email protected]

January 30, 2025
White House still committed to freezing ‘woke’ funds despite rescinding OMB memo

The White House remains committed to freezing federal grants and loans aimed at “woke” programs, Fox News has learned, despite the administration’s move to rescind the original Office of Management and Budget memo — effectively ending the legal battle and any “confusion” for recipients.

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

‘ANSWERED THIS QUESTION FOUR TIMES’: LEAVITT PUSHES BACK ON MEDIA’S ‘UNCERTAINTY’ ABOUT FEDERAL FUNDING FREEZE

On Wednesday, the Trump administration rescinded the original memo.

“In light of the injunction, OMB has rescinded the memo to end any confusion on federal policy created by the court ruling and the dishonest media coverage,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News on Wednesday. “The Executive Orders issued by the President on funding reviews remain in full force and effect and will be rigorously implemented by all agencies and departments.”

Leavitt told Fox News that rescinding the memo “should effectively end the court case and allow the government to focus on enforcing the President’s orders on controlling federal spending.”

“In the coming weeks and months, more executive action will continue to end the egregious waste of federal funding,” Leavitt said.

The memo, sent to federal agencies on Monday, issued a pause on all federal grants and loans aiming to eradicate “wokeness” and the “weaponization of government” to improve government efficiency.

“Federal agencies must temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance, and 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,” the memo, obtained by Fox Digital, reads.

The pause was set to take effect at 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday.

Democrats had criticized the Trump administration’s freeze of federal funds, arguing that President Trump is circumventing Congress and withholding congressionally appropriated funds, violating the Impoundment Control Act.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt holds her first news conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on Jan. 28, 2025 in Washington, DC. At 27 years old, Leavitt is the youngest White House press secretary in U.S. history. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

FEDERAL JUDGE PAUSES TRUMP ADMIN’S TEMPORARY FEDERAL GRANTS, LOANS FREEZE

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

The administrative stay pauses the freeze until Monday.

The White House stressed that despite the memo being rescinded, if money coming out of federal agencies is at odds with the president’s executive orders, for example, funding for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs, those funds will still be frozen.

But programs including Social Security benefits, Medicare, food stamps, welfare benefits and other assistance going directly to individuals will not be impacted under the pause, according to Leavitt.

Leavitt, during the White House press briefing on Tuesday, described the pause as “temporary,” and noted that the Trump administration has executed other freezes throughout the government, including a regulatory and hiring pause.

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“It’s incumbent upon this administration to make sure, again, that every penny is being accounted for honestly,” Leavitt said.

Additionally, Leavitt said that Trump’s newly created Department of Government Efficiency that aims to eliminate government spending and waste identified $37 million that was about to go to the World Health Organization, along with $50 million to “fund condoms in Gaza.”

“That is a preposterous waste of money,” Leavitt said.

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

January 29, 2025
CIA Director John Ratcliffe promises ‘changes’ to come in leadership memo

EXCLUSIVE: CIA Director John Ratcliffe warned his agents of “changes” to come under his leadership in a memo obtained by Fox News Digital.

“There will be changes during my tenure as director,” the new leader of America’s top spy agency wrote in an agency-wide workforce message. Ratcliffe is currently reviewing all top staff and planning to put his own fingerprints on the senior level of the agency, Fox News Digital has learned.

“We will collect intelligence in every corner of the globe, no matter how dark or difficult. We will produce insightful, objective, all-source analysis, never allowing political or personal biases to cloud our judgment or infect our products,” Ratcliffe went on in his email.

“And we will conduct covert action at the direction of the President, going places no one else can go and doing things no one else can do.”

NEW CIA BOSS RATCLIFFE SAYS BIDEN-ERA REPORT BACKING LAB-LEAK THEORY RELEASED TO ‘RESTORE’ TRUST

CIA Director John Ratcliffe warned his agents of “changes” to come under his leadership of the CIA. (Getty Images)

As agents conduct work in what Ratcliffe defined as the “most challenging national security environment in our nation’s history,” he promised the CIA would be the “ultimate meritocracy.”

“Our shared mission will bind us together.”

A source familiar with Ratcliffe’s thinking said, “This was a message to Agency’s workforce that the John Brennan era, the Gina Haspel era, the eras of promoting leftwing political agendas or subverting the President — those days are over.”

Haspel was President Donald Trump’s CIA director from 2018 to 2021 – while Ratcliffe was Trump’s director of national intelligence. Brennan headed up the agency under former President Barack Obama.

“I’m sure it’ll rub some of the political activists burrowed in there the wrong way, but there are a lot of red-blooded, mission-focused agency officers reading this and cheering him on,” the source added.

RATCLIFFE SAYS US FACES ‘MOST CHALLENGING SECURITY ENVIRONMENT’ EVER IN CONFIRMATION HEARING

Ratcliffe is also looking for ways to streamline the agency’s many tech-focused offices – the directorate of digital innovation; directorate of science and technology; transnational and technology mission center; office of the chief technology officer; and directorate of analysis, which has been developing AI-powered tools – to stake out clear lines of authority and tasks.

“Nobody comes to CIA to be somebody. Our successes remain hidden. Even our medals are presented behind closed doors, our sacrifices memorialized by stars on a marble wall. But each one of those stars represents somebody who wanted to do something, regardless of whether history would know their name,” Ratcliffe continued.

A source familiar with CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s thinking promised a different direction for the nation’s top spy agency than under Gina Haspel, CIA director during the first Trump administration. (Reuters)

“That’s what makes this place special. That’s what we must preserve.”

Ratcliffe was confirmed by the Senate last Thursday in a 74-25 vote.

Under its new director, the CIA released a new assessment of the COVID-19 origin which favors a lab origin with “low confidence.”

The review was ordered by former President Joe Biden’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan toward the end of Biden’s time in office.

JOHN RATCLIFFE CONFIRMED AS NEXT CIA DIRECTOR

President Donald Trump’s nominee for CIA director, John Ratcliffe, appears for a Senate Intelligence confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on Jan. 15, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

The agency has maintained for years it did not have enough intelligence to conclude whether COVID-19 originated in a lab or a wet market in Wuhan, China.

Ratcliffe recently told Breitbart News he no longer wanted the CIA to sit “on the sidelines” of the debate over the origins of Covid-19. He has long said he believes the virus originated in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

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“I had the opportunity on my first day to make public an assessment that actually took place in the Biden administration, so it can’t be accused of being political,” he told “Sunday Morning Futures” host Maria Bartiromo on Sunday.

“And the CIA has assessed that the most likely cause of this pandemic that has wrought so much devastation around the world was because of a lab-related incident in Wuhan, so we’ll continue to investigate that moving forward.”

January 28, 2025
Trump admin goes on memo blitz to agency chiefs ordering pause to federal grants, return to office details

The Trump administration’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) went on a memo blitz Monday, sending at least three letters to federal agency leaders on directives stretching from return to office instructions to pausing federal grants, copies of the memos obtained by Fox News Digital show.

President Donald Trump’s administration already has issued a handful of directives aimed at federal agency heads since he took office Jan. 20, including ordering agency chiefs to shutter diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) offices, which was followed by another memo to begin terminating DEI chiefs.

On Monday, the OMB, an executive office that evaluates agency programs and handles the president’s budget, and OPM, an independent agency that serves as the federal government’s human resources department, issued memos on Monday to further move federal agencies in line with the president’s vision of government.

TRUMP ADMIN TO PAUSE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS: REPORT

Then-former President Donald Trump arrives at an election night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Evan Vucci/AP)

Return to office plans

A joint OMB and OPM memo sent Monday regarding return to office plans outlined that agency heads have until Feb. 7 to provide a plan on returning staff schedules to full-time in-person work.

Agencies must “prepare plans to expeditiously implement” the memo and submit their plans “for review and approval by no later than Friday, February 7th at 5:00pm EST,” the memo, obtained by Fox News Digital, states.

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The directive, addressed to “heads of executive departments and agencies,” detailed that agency chiefs must craft plans that include details such as how they will “revise telework agreements for all eligible employees,” as well as “provide timelines for the return of all eligible employees to in-person work as expeditiously as possible, including the date that the agency will be in full compliance,” and “describe agency’s process for determining exceptions based on disability, qualifying medical condition, and or other compelling reason.”

Both the acting director of OMB, Matthew J. Vaeth, and OPM acting director, Charles Ezell, issued the memo.

The directive comes after Trump railed against federal employees working from home years after the pandemic and social distancing mandates ended. On his first day in office, Trump issued a presidential action calling on federal agencies to terminate remote work.

TRUMP DHS MAKES KEY MOVE AGAINST MIGRANTS ALLOWED IN VIA CONTROVERSIAL BIDEN PAROLE PROGRAMS

Executive branch department and agency heads “shall, as soon as practicable, take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis, provided that the department and agency heads shall make exemptions they deem necessary,” the Jan. 20 presidential action read.

Pausing federal grants and loans in effort to end ‘wokeness’

The OMB issued another memo on Monday that pauses all federal grants and loans, out of an effort to end “‘wokeness’ and the weaponization of government,” and to promote “efficiency in government.”

“Federal agencies must temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance, and 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,” the memo, obtained by Fox Digital reads.

The pause takes effect at 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

The memo explained that out of the $10 trillion spent by the federal government in fiscal year 2024, $3 trillion was allocated to “federal financial assistance, such as grants and loans.”

“Career and political appointees in the Executive Branch have a duty to align Federal spending and action with the will of the American people as expressed through Presidential priorities,” the memo states. “Financial assistance should be dedicated to advancing Administration priorities, focusing taxpayer dollars to advance a stronger and safer America, eliminating the financial burden of inflation for citizens, unleashing American energy and manufacturing, ending ‘wokeness’ and the weaponization of government, promoting efficiency in government, and Making America Healthy Again.”

The memo was sent to all heads of executive departments and agencies by Vaeth.

“The use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve,” it adds.

Agency chiefs are required to submit “detailed information on any programs, projects or activities subject to this pause” to the OMB by Feb. 10 for review.

New federal employee classification

Agency leaders were directed in another memo sent Monday by OPM to review government positions that could be moved to the Trump administration’s new “schedule policy/career” federal employee classification.

Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office focused on federal employees who hold sway over policy decisions, as part of an effort to “maintain professionalism and accountability within the civil service,” which Trump’s order said was “sorely lacking.”

The executive order created a new “schedule policy/career” federal employee classification, which will work to remove civil protections from federal employees in “policy-influencing” positions, making the individuals more vulnerable for termination.

TRUMP DHS REPEALS KEY MAYORKAS MEMO LIMITING ICE AGENTS, ORDERS PAROLE REVIEW

Then-former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Uniondale, New York on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital)

Trump’s executive order creates a new classification “for positions that are of a confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy- advocating character (policy-influencing positions) and filled by individuals not normally subject to replacement or change as a result of a Presidential transition. Such career positions will be rescheduled into Schedule Policy/Career,” the memo stated.

The memo states that agency leaders have until April 20 to craft a plan on positions that would shift to the new classification. The 90-day period for review began on Jan. 20, when Trump signed the executive order.

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“Agencies have 90 days to conduct a preliminary review of positions and submit petitions, with an additional 120 days to finalize their review and submit any remaining petitions,” the memo reads. “Agencies may, and are encouraged to, submit such petitions on a rolling basis.”

January 28, 2025
Trump White House memo pauses funding for NGOs, DEI and Green New Deal

The White House has reportedly issued a memo that broadly suspends federal grants, loans and other financial assistance programs for executive departments pending an assessment of the funding.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the memo, saying it was sent out by the Office of Management and Budget around 5 p.m. on Monday.

The memo, which takes effect Tuesday at 5 p.m., said agencies “must temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance, and 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,” according to the Journal.

The memo reportedly said the federal government spent more than $3 trillion on federal assistance, including grants and loans, in the 2024 fiscal year and that the pause allows “time to review agency programs and determine the best uses of the funding for those programs consistent with the law and the President’s priorities.”

JD VANCE CONDEMNS FEMA’S RESPONSE TO HELENE DEVASTATION IN 1ST TRIP AS VICE PRESIDENT

The White House is seen in Washington D.C., on Jan.22, 2025. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Each agency must “complete a comprehensive analysis of all their Federal financial assistance programs to identify programs, projects and activities that may be implicated by any of the President’s executive orders,” the memo continued, according to the Journal, adding that the pause must be applied “to the extent permissible under applicable law.”

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., holds a news conference to speak out against the nomination of Russell Vought on Jan. 23, 2025. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., condemned the memo, telling the Journal that pausing the funding puts “billions upon billions of community grants and financial support that help millions of people across the country” at risk.

“It 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,” Schumer said, adding that Congress approved the funding for the federal assistance programs.

President Donald Trump’s nominee for Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought testifies during the Senate Banking Committee nomination hearing on Jan. 22, 2025. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

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The memo included a footnote that said Medicare, Social Security benefits and assistance provided directly to individuals were exempt from the pause, but its otherwise broad language caused confusion Monday night among some federal employees, as administrators requested advice from their internal counsel regarding which programs the pause applied to and how the departments should respond, one source told the Journal.

The memo included a Feb. 10 deadline for agencies to submit a thorough summary of all paused programs, projects and activities to the Office of Management and Budget.

Danielle Wallace is a breaking news and politics reporter at Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected] and on X: @danimwallace.

January 28, 2025
States attorneys general criticize DOJ memo

Eleven Democratic states on Thursday issued a statement criticizing the “vague” threats from the Trump administration related to possible prosecutions for not complying with immigration enforcement.

The statement was signed by state attorneys general from California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont.

It addressed a recent Justice Department memo directing federal prosecutors to investigate state and local officials who refuse to enforce President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, including hs mass deportation plans.

TRUMP’S ICE RACKS UP HUNDREDS OF ARRESTS, INCLUDING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ARRESTED FOR HORROR CRIMES

Hundreds of migrants, predominantly from Venezuela, cross the Rio Grande in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, with the intention of seeking humanitarian asylum in the U.S. on Dec. 5, 2023. (David Peinado/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“Right now, these vague threats are just that: empty words on paper,” the statement said. “But rest assured, our states will not hesitate to respond if these words become illegal actions.”

In the memo, Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, Trump’s former defense attorney, said that “federal law prohibits state and local actors from resisting, obstructing, and otherwise failing to comply with lawful immigration-related commands and requests, pursuant to, for example, the President’s extensive Article II authority with respect to foreign affairs and national security, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and the Alien Enemies Act.”

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President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders on Monday. (Fox News Digital/Trump-Vance Transition Team)

Bove said U.S. attorneys offices “and litigating components of the Department of Justice shall investigate incidents involving any such misconduct for potential prosecution, including for obstructing federal functions in violation of federal statutes.”

The attorneys general cited Printz v. United States, saying the federal government can’t force local or state authorities to carry out immigration actions.

“Despite what he may say to the contrary, the President cannot unilaterally re-write the Constitution,” they wrote.

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“The President has made troubling threats to weaponize the U.S. Department of Justice’s prosecutorial authority and resources to attack public servants acting in compliance with their state laws, interfering with their ability to build trust with the communities they serve and protect.”

Fox News Digital’s Jake Gibson, David Spunt and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.

January 23, 2025