White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday said President Trump’s order to freeze federal financial assistance does not impact individual assistance programs like Social Security, Medicare, food stamps and welfare benefits. “Assistance that is going directly to individuals will not be impacted by this pause,” she said. “However, it is the responsibility of this president and this administration to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars. That is something that President Trump campaigned on.” The Trump administration said the move was needed to make sure spending complied with the president’s recent executive orders, including those that clamp down on foreign aid, climate initiatives, and funding for diversity, equity and inclusion programs. The memo from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) created widespread confusion about which programs would be impacted. “To individuals at home who receive direct assistance from the federal government, you will not be impacted by this federal freeze,” Ms. Leavitt said. Shortly before the deadline for agencies to comply, a federal judge issued an administrative stay of the policy, blocking it from going into effect until Feb. 3 to allow further litigation.
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