US judge temporarily blocks Trump's freeze on federal funding
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This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Jeanette Jalil, and in the early hours of Wednesday, the 29th of January, these are our main stories. A U.S. judge temporarily blocks a sweeping White House order to pause federal grants, loans and other financial assistance that could have put trillions of dollars on hold. Rwandan-backed rebels are getting closer to taking complete control of Goma in eastern Congo. The head of the UN's Palestinian Refugee Agency has accused Israel of carrying out a relentless assault against it ahead of Thursday's ban. Also in this podcast, we hear how a pioneering computer-controlled brain implant has transformed the life of a man with Parkinson's disease.
It was instant. Yeah, I just stopped shitting. My neck stopped shitting. My voice was better.
It's been a chaotic and confusing start to Donald Trump's plan to pause billions, possibly even trillions of dollars in U.S. government funding. Just minutes before the government freeze on federal loans, grants and other assistance was due to go into effect on Tuesday evening Washington time, it was blocked by a federal judge who's now delayed it until next week. Democrats had said the freeze was illegal. Before the judge's decision, the senior Democrat and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer had this to say.
In an instant, Donald Trump has shut off billions, perhaps trillions of dollars that directly support states, cities, towns, schools, hospitals, small businesses, and most of all, American families. This is a dagger at the heart of the average American family in red states, in blue states, in cities, in suburbs, in rural areas. It is just outrageous.
The White House had said the freeze was intended to bring spending into line with President Trump's anti-woke executive orders. The White House press secretary, Caroline Leavitt, who at 27 is the youngest person ever to hold that post, said during her debut media briefing that the freeze would not affect payments to individuals for crucial things like pensions, health care and food assistance.
This is not a blanket pause on federal assistance and grant programs from the Trump administration. Individual assistance that includes Medicare benefits, food stamps, welfare benefits, assistance that is going directly to individuals will not be impacted by this pause. And I want to make that very clear to any Americans who are watching at home who may be a little bit confused about some of the media reporting. This administration, if you are receiving individual assistance from the federal government, you will still continue to receive that.
I asked our correspondent in Washington, Caroline Hawley, if she could clarify the confusion.
Honestly, there is still confusion. I think why it's being done is easier than the what of it, if you know what I mean. So essentially, this has been paused so the new administration can check that government spending aligns with its conservative policies. And they've also promised to make the government more efficient.
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Speakers
24 identified
Janet Jalil 9 min
Jonathan Beale 2 min
Guy Delaunay 2 min
Caroline Hawley 2 min
Advertisement voice 2 min
Emery Makumeno 2 min
Sharon Barber 2 min
Michaela Rong 2 min
Evan Davis 2 min
Judson Rowlands 1 min
Hugh Schofield 1 min
Marjan Vandelaar 1 min
Richard Hamilton 1 min
Lina Sinjab 1 min
Paul Moss 1 min
Alona Sienko 1 min
Caroline Leavitt 1 min
Chuck Schumer
Rebecca Kesby
Landon Harris
Philippe Lazzarini
Pat
Miloš Vucevic
Andrew Peach
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