BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — An immediate freeze to all federal funding was supposed to take place Tuesday evening, however, a United States District judge has issued a brief stay of the policy until 5pm on February 3rd.
- US District Judge Loren L. AliKhan issued a brief administration stay of the policy during a virtual hearing on Tuesday afternoon. The stay blocks the policy from taking effect until 5PM on February 3.
- According to a memorandum sent out Monday night by the office of management and budget — all executive departments and agencies must place a temporary pause on all federal grants and loans.
- At the moment, local agencies are working to determine exactly just how this memorandum will affect them.
President Donald Trump is looking to push out a temporary pause in federal assistance relating to grants and loans for nongovernmental organizations. What was supposed to take place Tuesday evening and potentially affect thousands has now been placed on hold by a judge.
Just hours before the temporary freeze on federal assistance was supposed to take place, U.S District Judge Loren L. Alikhan issued a brief stay of the policy until 5pm on February 3rd.
23ABC reached out to numerous local groups that rely on federal funding. Most of them told us they were reviewing the new order and were not sure how this would impact their services to their clients. One of those groups is CAPK, which provides social services to low-income families.
"We want to share with the community and our staff that we're in braided funding so we do have contracts that are tied into grants, loans, and other assistance programs,” said advocacy manager for CAP-K. “We are braided funding so we do have action plans to make sure that our prime focus is still our clients we still serve."
Cutting off the federal funding could affect those of the 147,000 individuals helped daily by CAP-K.
And this may just be the beginning of these impacts, which is why local leaders are starting to fight back.
"The children across the country who depend on snap for their next meal, for the seniors that rely on state services to get the care they need , this policy will disrupt the lives of millions of Americans,” said New York Attorney General Leticia James.
It's this fact that Attorney General Rob Bonta, along with 23 other attorney generals, have also joined in the fight against the memorandum, filing a lawsuit to block the implementation overall.
"This directive from OMB is unlawful. It violates the U.S constitution, it violates the administrative procedures act,” said attorney general Rob Bonta. “Not to mention that it's arbitrary and capricious, the federal government should have to follow the rules."
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