STORY: U.S. federal judge blocks Trump admin's freeze on federal financial assistance
SHOOTING TIME: Jan. 28, 2025
DATELINE: Jan. 29, 2025
LENGTH: 00:00:30
LOCATION: Washington, D.C.
CATEGORY: POLITICS/LAW

SHOTLIST:
1. various of exterior of the White House (Jan. 28, 2025)

STORYLINE:

A U.S. federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked the Donald Trump administration's planned freeze on federal grants, loans, and other financial assistance.

Judge Loren AliKhan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia paused the plan for a week and scheduled a hearing next Monday.

The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a Monday memo ordering a temporary halt to "all federal financial assistance." The OMB said that this temporary pause will provide the administration time to review agency programs and make funding decisions "consistent with the law and the president's priorities."

"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 (president's) executive orders, including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion), woke gender ideology, and the green new deal," the memo said.

Earlier on Tuesday, non-profit and small business advocacy groups filed a case in the federal court to argue that the memo is "devoid of any legal basis or the barest rationale" and "will have a devastating impact on hundreds of thousands of grant recipients."

The freeze was the latest in a series of actions taken by the administration since Donald Trump's return to the White House on Jan. 20.

Trump's executive order to end birthright citizenship has also faced legal challenges from over 20 states. 

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Washington, D.C.
(XHTV)