On January 27, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memo requiring all agencies to temporarily pause disbursement of federal assistance and submit to OMB information on impacted programs by February 10, 2025. That memorandum has raised significant questions about which programs would be affected and for how long.
In response to these memorandum, on January 28, a lawsuit was filed in federal court challenging the Administration's authority to take this action. (A group of 23 state attorneys general also filed a separate lawsuit against the memorandum Tuesday afternoon). On the evening of January 28, a federal judge issued a short administrative stay, temporarily halting the funding freeze until 5 p.m. on February 3. This short stay will allow the court time “to deliberate when issues are not easy to evaluate in haste,” and permit the parties to fully brief the issues for the court.
A lot of uncertainty remains in the days ahead. ICMA staff are working with our federal partners to assess the impact to our members/local governments. We will continue to post updates to this page as the situation evolves:
- January 29 Update: OMB Rescinds Memo Pausing Federal Financial Assistance
- January 28 Update #2: Federal Judge Temporarily Pauses Federal Funding Freeze
- January 28 Update: OMB Memo Providing Guidance on Federal Programs Impacted by Funding Freeze
- January 27: OMB Memo | Temporary Pause to Review Agency Financial Assistance Programs
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