The freeze on federal grants that the White House announced Monday in a memo from the White House Office of Management and Budget has been rescinded as of today.

In a memo dated Wednesday and distributed to federal agencies, Matthew J. Vaeth, acting director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, states that OMB memorandum M-25-13 “is rescinded.” That order, issued Monday, instructed federal agencies to “temporarily pause all activities related to obligations or disbursement of all federal financial assistance.”

The original White House order freezing federal grants, which became public on Monday, caused mass chaos and confusion across Washington, appearing to imperil government programs that fund schools, provide housing and ensure low-income Americans have access to health care.

This comes after a federal judge blocked the implementation of the freeze yesterday. There were actually two separate lawsuits filed yesterday, one by a Democratic group and one by collection of Democratic AGs who have vowed to resist the Trump administration wherever possible.

Judge Loren AliKhan’s decision to block the freeze with an “administrative stay,” came in response to a lawsuit filed by Democracy Forward, a nonprofit legal organization. The group argued that the Trump administration’s order, issued by the White House Office of Management and Budget late on Monday, violated the First Amendment and the Administrative Procedure Act, a law that governs the executive branch’s rule-making authorities. The judge said she would hold a hearing to consider a more permanent decision on Feb. 3.

Separately, attorneys general from 22 states and the District of Columbia filed a second lawsuit Tuesday evening that also sought to thwart Mr. Trump’s effort to freeze funding, pending his administration’s review of whether the spending comported with his priorities...

With even Republican states pleading for guidance, the White House and its budget office tried on Tuesday afternoon to dial back perceptions about the order’s scope, saying the funding pause did “not apply across-the-board” and was limited to programs implicated by the president’s executive orders, including those “that undermine the national interest.”

So this was going to be tied up in court. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt put out a statement today suggesting the about face was a way to sidestep the looming court mess.

“In light of the injunction, OMB has rescinded the memo to end any confusion on federal policy created by the court ruling and the dishonest media coverage,” Leavitt wrote in a statement. “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. This action 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.”

Okay, fine, but this response from Democrats should have been predictable in advance. Looking at the original memo, this was never defined as a total freeze but was always focused on specific issues. [emphasis added]

In Fiscal Year 2024, of the nearly $10 trillion that the Federal Government spent, more than $3 trillion was 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. 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 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...

To implement these orders, each agency must complete a comprehensive analysis of all of their Federal financial assistance programs to identify programs, projects, and activities that may be implicated by any of the President's executive orders. In the interim, to the extent permissible under applicable law, 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.

However, despite the memo seeming to single out grants connected to the new executive orders, there were reports that all sorts of federal funding was shut down, which did create confusion.

State health agencies said they had been locked out of their Medicaid reimbursement portals. State officials said funding for preschools, community health centers, food for low-income families, housing assistance and disaster relief were all at risk. Universities were freezing new research grants.

Loan transactions involving the Department of Housing and Urban Development appeared to be in limbo, as lenders received word from administration officials that their deals could not go through. In a statement, the Washington state attorney general’s office said that funding for highways, substance abuse treatment and nursing care for veterans were all in jeopardy.

The Trump team wants to push the agenda and to see compliance with the executive orders Trump issued, all of which is understandable. Unfortunately, this grant freeze has effectively fired up the Democratic resistance machine led by state AGs and arguably given the left its first win against the new administration. The White House won't see it that way but the reversal will be claimed as a win by Democrats.