The Trump administration bit off more than it could chew, and now it’s choking.
Donald Trump recently issued a freeze on funds to federal agencies, suspending trillions of dollar worth of government grants and loans – to the mass panic of their recipients. According to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, the decision was made in order to root out “transgenderism and wokeness across our federal bureaucracy and agencies.”
Like many of Trump’s executive orders, the decision was challenged in court—temporarily blocked by a federal judge in Washington D.C. In response to the widespread backlash from schools, nonprofits and hospitals fearful of losing government support, the Office of Management and Budget’s director Matthew J. Vaeth issued a memo that the freeze order had been “rescinded.”
Democratic lawmakers celebrated the decision’s reversal, with Sen. Patty Murray calling it “an important victory for the American people.” Murry went on to blame the Trump administration for its “sheer incompetence” and “willful disregard for the law,” which he said “caused real harm and chaos for millions.”
Other lawmakers were less optimistic about the memo’s retraction. Sen. Chris Murphy believes that the Trump administration retracted the memo in order protect itself from further retaliation from the judiciary. “The crisis might have just deepened,” Murphy said in an interview with HuffPost. Sen. John Kennedy believes that while the memo itself may have been retracted, the Trump administration “didn’t rescind the intention.” Kennedy believes that further action from the Trump administration in pursuit of the freeze may be on the way.
The White House itself backed up Kennedy’s claim. In a post on social media, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the decision to pull the memo was “NOT a rescission of the federal funding freeze,” adding that Trump’s executive order will “remain in full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented.”
According to the New York Times, the memo’s retraction does indeed signal that funding freeze is no longer in effect. However, the president is expected to continue to search for other ways to further his administration’s agenda to penalize federal agencies it deems to be supporting “wokeness.”
The Trump administration is currently fighting legal battles on other fronts as well. In response to Trump’s executive order aimed to end birthright citizenship, a Seattle based federal judged issued a restraining order temporarily blocking the administration from enforcing the decision. The judge called the order “blatantly unconstitutional,” echoing the widespread condemnation that the order is currently facing. As of now, 22 Democratic states have sued to block the order. The ACLU has also sued, along with several other civil rights and immigration groups and even some private citizens.
While the judiciary has blocked some of the Trump administration’s policies, other equally more dangerous executive orders remain in full effect. The president recently issued an order restricting gender affirming care for minors – which it defines as anyone 19 or under. The newest rollback of trans rights compounds upon two others, one of which proclaims that the federal government recognize only two biological sexes assigned at birth, while the other seeks to ban trans people from serving in the military.
The president has also trashed DEI initiatives across the federal government, firing all federal DEI employees in the process. In perhaps the administration’s most devastating move of all, Trump has signed a slew of executive orders putting his plans of mass deportation into full swing. While the rescinding of the funding freeze is a victory in a small battle against the Trump administration, lawmakers and civil rights groups should be prepared to fight a war for years to come.
Published: Jan 30, 2025 10:41 AM UTC