
White House Temporarily Pauses Federal Agency Grant, Loan, and Other Financial Assistance Programs, Limiting Impact to Programs Implicated by Prior Select Executive Orders

White House Temporarily Pauses Federal Agency Grant, Loan, and Other Financial Assistance Programs, Limiting Impact to Programs Implicated by Prior Select Executive Orders
On January 27, 2025, the Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released instructions to all heads of executive departments and agencies to “temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance.” The OMB mandate is designed to “provide the [Trump] Administration time to review agency programs and determine the best uses of the funding for those programs consistent with the law and the President’s priorities.”
Earlier this afternoon, OMB walked back its sweeping order and limited the scope to the following set of Executive Orders the President has signed:
- Protecting the American People Against Invasion
- Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid
- Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements
- Unleashing American Energy
- Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing
- Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government
- Enforcing the Hyde Amendment
The OMB pause begins at 5:00 PM tonight (Jan 28, 2025). Agencies are directed to complete a comprehensive analysis of all their federal assistance programs and submit this information to OMB no later than February 10, 2025, where OMB will review and provide guidance to each agency. Further, “OMB may grant exceptions allowing Federal agencies to issue new awards or take other actions on a case-by-case basis.”
How this impacts the communications sector is still fluid but becoming clearer after the OMB walk back. It does not appear to include federal USF support and broadband deployment grants, especially those geared towards small entities. OMB states: “Funds for small businesses, farmers, Pell grants, Head Start, rental assistance, and other similar programs will not be paused. If agencies are concerned that these programs may implicate the President’s Executive Orders, they should consult OMB to begin to unwind these objectionable policies without a pause in the payments.” It seems that communications grants, loans, and federal universal support falls into this exception. JSI expects guidance from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), United States Department of Commerce, under the National Telecommunications and Information Association (NTIA), and United States Department of Agriculture, under the Rural Utilities Service (RUS), to clarify what programs are affected.
JSI strongly recommends that clients continue their normal course of business regarding federal and state funding applications and programs, including BEAD and other broadband initiatives. Given the uncertainty around whether this pause may affect specific programs and whether state-level deadlines might be adjusted, maintaining the status quo in application preparation and submission is crucial to avoid potentially missing important deadlines that could impact your ability to participate in these programs.
Legal challenges to the directive have already begun, with the National Council of Nonprofits and American Public Health Association filing a federal lawsuit Tuesday in Washington, D.C. seeking a temporary restraining order to maintain the status quo until the court reviews OMB’s actions. Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer is also leading a coalition of states in a separate legal challenge.
JSI is closely monitoring this item and will continue to notify you as OMB and the Federal agencies provide more clarity. If you have any questions, please contact your JSI representative, Jenn Holtz, Steve Meltzer or Douglas Meredith.