White House rescinds memo on federal aid freeze that sparked confusion

The White House Office of Management and Budget on Wednesday rescinded a memo that froze federal grants and loans and created widespread confusion this week.
“OMB Memorandum M-25-13 is rescinded. If you have questions about implementing the President’s Executive Orders, please contact your agency General Counsel,” a new memo obtained by CNN reads.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on X that while the earlier memo had been rescinded, the president’s executive orders freezing foreign assistance and ending diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, for example, remain in effect. Those orders are more targeted than the trillions of dollars in aid that was frozen Monday night.
The White House budget office had ordered the pause on federal grants and loans, according to the internal memorandum sent Monday, which unleashed anxiety even as the White House said it was not as sweeping an order as it appeared.
Though White House aides publicly blamed the media for causing the confusion, arguing that none existed within the building, the administration had received a flood of calls from lawmakers and state officials with questions about its impact on their home states. #CNN #News