White House Backs Down From Funding Freeze

President Donald Trump rescinded an order that sought to temporarily freeze the distribution of federal funds to local governments, universities, and nonprofits on Wednesday afternoon, ending an effort that could have jeopardized large swathes of Harvard research.

The pause was set to go into effect Tuesday afternoon before the U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan blocked the order, minutes before it went into effect. Matthew J. Vaeth, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, announced the order’s reversal in a two-sentence memo.

The freeze could have stopped the flow of funds to research projects across Harvard. Shortly before AliKhan’s stay, Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 warned University affiliates that federally funded research projects could be halted.

Stop-work orders on certain projects, issued under earlier executive orders, remain in effect. Administrators at some of Harvard’s schools urged researchers who received stop-work notifications to comply in Tuesday emails.

Shortly after the freeze was rescinded, White House Press Secretary Karoline C. Leavitt clarified that Trump’s previous orders focused on funding reviews “remain in full force and effect and will be rigorously implemented by all agencies and departments.”

“OMB has rescinded the memo to end any confusion on federal policy created by the court ruling and the dishonest media coverage,” Leavitt wrote in a statement.

The controversial directive came under fire from state and local governments, who promised to sue if the freeze came to fruition.

A group of 22 Attorney Generals, including Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea J. Campbell, announced plans to sue the White House over the proposal, calling it an unconstitutional abuse of power.

Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) celebrated Trump’s decision to rescind the order, but warned it did not prevent aggressive action from the new White House in the future.

“I don’t think this would have happened, except for the outcry throughout America,” Schumer said. “We don’t believe they’ll stop.”

Several nonprofit groups also celebrated the reversal. Democracy Forward — the group whose lawsuit led to AliKhan’s temporary block — said the retraction would give Americans a “sigh of relief.”

“We condemn the Trump-Vance administration’s harmful and callous approach of unleashing chaos and harm on the American people,” said Skye Perryman, the group’s chief executive officer.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

—Staff writer Dhruv T. Patel can be reached at dhruv.patel@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @dhruvtkpatel.

—Staff writer Grace E. Yoon can be reached at grace.yoon@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @graceunkyoon.