Judge temporarily pauses Trump's freeze on grants, loans

A US judge on Tuesday temporarily paused part of the Trump administration's sweeping directive to pause federal loans, grants and other financial assistance, granting a win to advocacy groups who said the policy would be devastating.

At a hearing in Washington D.C. federal court, US District Judge Loren AliKhan ordered the Trump administration not to block "open awards," or funds that were already slated to be disbursed, until at least February 3.

The judge said her temporary ruling was intended to "maintain the status quo." It does not block the Trump administration from freezing funding to new programs, or require it to restart funding that has already ended.

AliKhan scheduled another hearing for Monday at 11:00 a.m. EST (1500 GMT) to determine the next steps.

The National Council of Nonprofits, the American Public Health Association, Main Street Alliance and SAGE earlier on Tuesday sued over the directive issued by the acting head of the US Office of Management and Budget on Monday. It had been set to take effect at 5:00 p.m. EST (2200 GMT) on Tuesday.

The groups said OMB lacked authority to unilaterally terminate all federal financial assistance programs across the government, and that the directive targeted grant recipients based in part on recipients' rights to free expression and association under the US Constitution's First Amendment.

Matthew Vaeth, OMB's acting director, said the money would be put on hold while the administration of Republican President Donald Trump reviews grants and loans to ensure they are aligned with the president's priorities, including executive orders he signed ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

The Trump administration said programs delivering critical benefits to Americans would not be affected.

Separately, a group of attorneys general from 22 mostly Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit in Providence, Rhode Island, seeking to stop the funding freeze.

The attorneys general said the Trump administration's assertion on Tuesday that the funding pause was not across-the-board only added to the confusion.