A federal judge temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s directive to freeze hundreds of billions of dollars in federal aid on Tuesday, halting the measure just minutes before it was set to take effect. The ruling followed warnings from advocacy groups that the move would disrupt critical services for millions of Americans.
U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan issued the emergency order at 5 p.m. ET (2200 GMT) after plaintiffs argued the freeze would cripple thousands of federal grant programs, including those funding healthcare and infrastructure. The court will revisit the case on Monday.
Trump’s directive was part of a larger effort to overhaul the federal government, which has included cuts to foreign aid, a hiring freeze, and the rollback of diversity programs. On the same day, his administration also offered buyouts to federal employees in a bid to shrink the government workforce.
Democrats swiftly condemned the aid freeze, calling it an unconstitutional power grab that bypassed Congress’ control over federal spending. They warned that the directive had already delayed payments to doctors and preschool teachers. Republicans, however, defended the measure as a step toward reducing the $6.75 trillion federal budget.
Despite administration assurances that essential programs would be unaffected, Democratic Senator Ron Wyden revealed that doctors in all 50 states were unable to access Medicaid payments, leaving 70 million low-income Americans at risk of losing healthcare coverage.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed the issue on X, acknowledging a technical glitch with the Medicaid portal but insisting that payments had not been interrupted. She assured the public that the system would be restored soon.