A United States judge has temporarily blocked an order from President Donald Trump to freeze funding for a wide range of federal programmes.
Tuesday’s decision came shortly before Trump’s directive was slated to come into effect at 5pm EST (22:00 GMT).
Critics had warned that the order could have disrupted education, healthcare, poverty reduction and disaster relief schemes.
Nevertheless, officials in Trump’s government argued the funding freeze was necessary to ensure that all funding complies with Trump’s priorities, including his crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
The Office of Management and Budget, which oversees the federal budget, said in a memo that the freeze included any money intended “for foreign aid” and for “nongovernmental organizations”, among other categories.
The White House said the pause would not impact Social Security and Medicare payments nor “assistance provided directly to individuals”.
That means some food aid programmes for the poor would not have been affected, sources told the Reuters news agency.
Maxwell Alejandro Frost, a Democratic congressman from Florida, also said in a social media post on Tuesday afternoon that his team had been on the phone with multiple agencies and organisations that have been “completely cut off from federal money”.
“We’re talking housing, homeless services, public safety,” he wrote, warning that the freeze “could have drastic local impacts”.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said the Trump administration did not have the authority to prevent spending approved by the US Congress.
“This decision is lawless, destructive, cruel,” Schumer said in a speech to the Senate. “It’s American families that are going to suffer most.”
The US Constitution gives Congress control over spending matters, but Trump said during his campaign that he believes the president has the power to withhold money from programmes he dislikes.
Congressman Tom Emmer, one of the top Republicans in the House of Representatives, said Trump was simply following through on his campaign promises.
“You need to understand he was elected to shake up the status quo. That is what he’s going to do. It’s not going to be business as usual,” Emmer told reporters at a Republican policy retreat in Miami.
