White House Orders Pause of Federal Financial-Assistance Programs

The White House ordered executive departments and agencies to broadly pause federal grants, loans and other financial-assistance programs pending a review by the Trump administration, according to a memo reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The memo, sent around 5 p.m. on Monday by the Office of Management and Budget, caused confusion with some employees in federal agencies who sought to understand which programs were affected and how they should respond, said a person familiar with the matter. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the memo only paused financial assistance related to the executive orders that President Trump signed during his first week in office, or all current federal financial-assistance programs.