A Washington D.C. judge has blocked President Donald Trump’s order to temporarily pause federal financial assistance programs.
On Monday, January 27, 2025, President Trump issued an internal memorandum mandating federal agencies to pause and review their financial assistance programs. The memo, which The New York Times published, states that agencies should ensure that “programs and supporting activities [are] consistent with the President’s policies and requirements.” It goes on to specifically note the President’s recent executive orders related to immigration, foreign aid, environmental policies, diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, gender identities, and taxpayer money spent on funding or promoting elective abortion. The pause was set to go into effect on Tuesday, January 28 at 5 p.m. EST, and agencies were instructed to submit detailed information by Monday, February 10.
In a document dated January 28, a group of nonprofit organizations, including The National Council of Nonprofits, the American Public Health Association, Mainstreet Alliance, and SAGE, filed a suit with the district court in Washington D.C. requesting that the funding freeze be blocked. The group notes, “This Memo… will have a devastating impact on hundreds of thousands of grant recipients who depend on the inflow of grant money (money already obligated and already awarded) to fulfill their missions, pay their employees, pay their rent — and, indeed, improve the day-to-day lives of the many people they work so hard to serve.” They also allege that the Trump Administration is not working “within the confines of the law.”
U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan has temporarily blocked the order until Monday, February 3, at 5 p.m. According to Politico, “the Judge described the move as a ‘brief administrative stay’ intended to maintain the status quo while further litigation can play out.”
If the memo goes into effect, the reach of the pause is currently unclear. The Associated Press and other outlets have reported that federal assistance to individuals — such as Social Security, Medicare, food stamps, student loans, and scholarships — will not be affected. However, yesterday lawmakers reported that Medicaid portals were down in all 50 states. Many recipients of federal funds have been uncertain about how their programs might be affected. With nearly a third of nonprofit funding coming through federal grants, nonprofits in all areas would likely be affected.
At the time of publication, representatives from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) have not responded to Glasstire’s specific inquiries about how the freeze might affect grantees who are currently under contract to receive awards, or about how the freeze would impact future grant opportunities. A spokesperson for the NEA did share the following statement: “The National Endowment for the Arts is currently reviewing the recent Executive Orders and accompanying guidance from the White House Office of Management and Budget to ensure compliance and provide the required reporting.”
A representative from the Mid-America Art Alliance told Glasstire, “At this time, we are awaiting further guidance from our federal partners to better assess the implications of the directive.”
Anina Moore, Director of Artist Services & Communications at the Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA), shared a statement with Glasstire. It reads, “We understand that the freeze is a developing situation. It does not affect TCA’s ability to provide funding for our current operating year, including the federal funding we have received.” The TCA’s approved 2025 operating budget indicates that its revenue is approximately $15.8 million, with $1.4 million coming from federal funds.
These new considerations related to federal funding echo arts funding issues that cropped up in Texas and Florida last summer. In both states, funds were rescinded due to local and state representatives taking issue with the potential of taxpayer money being spent on LGBTQ programming. Also last summer, Oklahoma Congressman Josh Brecheen proposed amendments to the Fiscal Year 2025 Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act that would have decreased the NEA and NEH budgets by nearly 25% of their originally proposed budgets.
These are the latest events that come out of a history of Republican-led initiatives to defund the arts. Among them include a 1997 Heritage Foundation document, which lists reasons to eliminate NEA funding, including “artistic efforts [being] evaluated by race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation instead of artistic merit.”
The temporary blocking gives nonprofits a short time to plan for what may come. For now, nonprofits await additional information about what it might mean if federal funding is paused next week.
Disclosure: Glasstire is a recipient of funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Texas Commission on the Arts.
