Late yesterday, a federal judge temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s pause on federal grants and loans. U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan blocked the action Tuesday afternoon, minutes before it was set to go into effect. The ruling ordered Trump’s administration to not block open awards or the release of funds that were already slated to be disbursed, until at least Feb. 3, 2025. The judge also scheduled another hearing on Feb. 3, 2025 at 11:00 a.m. EST.
The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued instructions to federal agencies to collect information about specific programs. These programs were deemed to possibly have funding that supports certain types of initiatives that are no longer supported under Trump’s administration, as outlined in numerous executive orders. The document is understood to include all impacted programs. However, it appears to include even those programs that were previously stated to be excluded.
The OMB stated that some programs will continue without interruption. The OMB has requested responses from federal agencies by Feb. 7, 2025, but the agency will continue to make program determinations on a case-by-case basis. These case-by-case determinations and programs that will continue without interruption will be pushed down from the OMB directly to the federal agencies. The information will then trickle down from there to various other agencies and funding authorities. We urge you to continue constant contact and communication with your funding authorities, and to also follow and sign up for updates from the federal agency that provides your funding.
From our current understanding, if an agency can determine that its respective programs are in compliance with Trump’s administration, if a pause does go into effect, there is a possibility it could be shorter than expected, however, it is still unknown at this time. It is our recommendation that organizations discuss and plan for necessary measures that may need to be taken if their respective programs are paused.
This information was provided to OSAP by Dean Dorton.