(WASHINGTON) — White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, during her first press briefing on Tuesday, faced a barrage of questions on the administration’s freeze on federal financial assistance programs that congressional Democrats called flatly illegal.
Agencies face a 5 p.m. ET deadline to comply with a memo from the White House Office of Management and Budget to cease spending on any grant or loan programs if they suspect it might conflict with President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders on DEI, foreign aid, climate spending more.
The memo prompted widespread confusion among advocacy organizations and state officials, some of whom reported error messages when trying to access portals to draw down funds for Medicaid, community health centers and more.
A legal challenge has been filed by nonprofits and health groups who argue the Office of Management and Budget is exceeding its authority.
“There’s no uncertainty in this building,” Leavitt said when asked to clarify about exactly what programs will be impacted.
“Social Security benefits, Medicare benefits, food stamps, welfare benefits, assistance that is going directly to individuals will not be impacted by this pause,” she said.
Leavitt later added, “However, it is the responsibility of this president and this administration to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars. That is something that President Trump campaigned on.”
Leavitt said the freeze was temporary, but did not expand on a specific timeline on when it would end.
When asked if Medicaid was impacted by the pause, Leavitt couldn’t immediately say. She also did not directly respond to a question on the impact on organizations like Meals on Wheels, which provides meals to 2.2 million seniors, or Head Start, a program for preschool education, that receive federal funding.
Leavitt said Office of Management and Budget sent a memo to Capitol Hill to “clarify some of the questions and the answers that all of you are asking me right now.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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