The White House formally rescinded its controversial memo that had ordered a freeze on federal grants and loans to give agencies time to review programs for their compliance with President Trump’s agenda. The rescission of the memo comes after a federal judge on Tuesday paused implementation of the order to give courts time to consider arguments from states and nonprofit groups that sued to challenge its legality. The rescission also came amidst strong behind-the-scenes push back from congressional Republicans. On Wednesday afternoon, however, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt created more confusion, tweeting that the rescission memo “is NOT a recission of the federal funding freeze” and that the “President’s EO’s on federal funding remain in full force and effect and will be rigorously implemented.”
