Trump administration rescinds federal aid programs freeze - media
On Wednesday, January 29, the Office of Management and Budget of US President Donald Trump's administration released a memorandum reversing a controversial order that froze a significant portion of federal financial assistance, which paralyzed many federal programs, including humanitarian ones in Ukraine.
This is reported by CNN and The Hill, Censor.NET reports.
According to a Republican senator who was informed of the decision to cancel the decree, this decision was made amid strong backroom pressure from Republican lawmakers.
"OMB Memorandum M-25-13 has been rescinded. If you have any questions regarding the implementation of the President's executive orders, please contact your agency's general counsel," the statement said.
According to an internal memo sent on Monday, the White House Office of Management and Budget ordered the suspension of federal grants and loans, which caused confusion and concern, even though the White House said it was not as drastic an order as it appeared.
Although White House aides publicly blamed the media for creating confusion, claiming that no such order existed in the building, the administration received a flood of calls from lawmakers and state officials asking about the impact of the order on their states.
Federal agencies "should temporarily suspend all activities related to the obligation or disbursement of all federal financial assistance," said Matthew Vaeth, acting director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, in the original memo, a copy of which was obtained by CNN, citing administration priorities listed in previous executive orders.
On Tuesday afternoon, a federal judge temporarily blocked part of the Trump administration's aid freeze.
What preceded it?
Earlier, Censor.NET reported that Zelenskyy had instructed government officials to report on those US support programs that are currently suspended. Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Iryna Vereshchuk announced talks on resuming funding for humanitarian projects.
Also on January 29, it became known that a US court had blocked Trump's decision to suspend funding for nonprofit organizations.
As reported earlier, USAID confirmed the complete suspension of funding for all programs and projects in Ukraine for 90 days to implement the State Department's directive to audit foreign aid. This decision applies to all countries where USAID operates, with the exception of Israel and Egypt.
Ukrainian organizations and local governments are notified of the need to suspend the implementation of projects funded by USAID or organizations dependent on American funding.
USAID supports projects in more than 100 countries around the world, including Ukraine, where funds are used to rebuild schools, provide healthcare services, and repair the critical energy system.
In total, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, USAID has allocated $2.6 billion in humanitarian aid to Ukraine and $5 billion in development aid.
