As President Donald Trump continues to alter, change or rescind various government policies, his latest move has sent shockwaves throughout the country and could impact millions of people. A new order from the president has put a pause on many types of federal aid, with the exact scope of the order unclear as people scramble to figure out whether or not they may stop receiving benefits ranging from food assistance to education loans.

Administration memo pauses federal aid to conform to Trump agenda

A two-page memo distributed by the Office of Management and Budget on Monday announced a “temporary pause of agency grant, loan, and other financial assistance programs.” The memo cites political motivations for the federal aid pause, noting Trump’s 2024 election victory and declaring that federal aid should reflect the new administration’s priorities, including “eliminating the financial burden of inflation for citizens” and “ending ‘wokeness.’”

The memo requires all federal agencies to review all of their aid programs to make sure that they are consistent with the many executive orders that Trump has issued since taking office, including orders to end DEI programs and scaling back or eliminating various other government programs and priorities. During this review, agencies are required to put a “temporary” pause on all federal aid except for Medicare, Social Security and “assistance provided directly to individuals.” The pause goes into effect Tuesday, and it is unclear from the memo when it will end.

It is unclear which if any programs might be granted exceptions, which are allowed under the memo and are to be granted by the OMB “on a case-by-case basis.” It is also unclear if the federal aid pause will survive legal challenges, as experts and Democrats have argued that it is unconstitutional and against the law for the president to stop funding that has been approved by Congress. The case could end up before the Supreme Court.

Confusion, fear and uncertainty over which programs are impacted.

The full impact of this pause may not be known for hours or even days, as it is not immediately obvious which programs are covered by the “assistance provided directly to individuals” exception since many forms of aid are paid to state governments or other agencies or organizations before reaching individuals. For example, the pause explicitly does not stop Social Security or Medicare benefits for senior citizens but it was initially unclear if it would stop benefits for low-income American through Medicaid or children through the Child Health Insurance Program. On Tuesday, experts and citizens expressed concern that the pause could impact assistance programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Women, Infants, and Children, as well as education benefits like Pell Grants. The uncertainty led to the OMB issuing follow-up guidelines to clarify that programs such as Medicaid, SNAP and Pell Grants were not paused. However, the clarification still gave cause for concern, as OMB advises “if agencies are concerned that these programs may implicate the President’s Executive Orders, they should consult OMB to begin to unwind these objectionable policies without a pause in the payments.”

NPR reported that the National Science Foundation canceled its scheduled grant reviews in light of the Trump administration’s new orders; this pause could delay or endanger ongoing research projects and put university faculty, researchers and students at financial risk. The pause also covers foreign aid, endangering the functioning of programs like PEPFAR, which fights global HIV/AIDS and has been credited with saving tens of millions of lives.

At a minimum, this new move by the Trump administration has created widespread worry and concern for many millions of people across the United States and around the world who rely on federal funds for a variety of purposes. At worst, this pause could significantly harm the security and livelihoods of millions of people and perhaps even endanger the lives of those who lose access to crucial aid.

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