White House revokes spending freeze in face of legal challenges

President Donald Trump's administration appeared to abandon its proposed freeze on hundreds of billions of dollars in aid on Wednesday in the face of legal setbacks and widespread opposition, though officials said they still planned to cut funds for activities opposed by Trump.

In a whip-saw reversal to a policy unveiled with little explanation late on Monday, the White House budget office told federal agencies it was rescinding a memo that had ordered the pause in grant and loan payments.

The new order came shortly before a federal court hearing on a lawsuit filed by Democratic state attorneys general trying to stop the freeze. A White House official said the reversal was an attempt to short-circuit legal challenges.

U.S. District Judge John McConnell nonetheless went ahead with the hearing, where he said he was inclined to temporarily block the administration's aid freeze, though he did not immediately do so.

At the virtual hearing from Providence, Rhode Island, McConnell, an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama, said the states have convinced him that the "inappropriate effects" of the now-rescinded funding freeze directive "are going to continue and that hasn't changed based on comments by the president's press secretary."

The administration had said the freeze was intended to provide time to review and halt funds to programs that Trump has sought to quash since returning to office, such as efforts to promote diversity and green energy and much foreign aid.

"We are merely looking at big parts of the bureaucracy where there has been waste and abuse," Trump said at the White House.

The freeze had already been blocked temporarily by another federal judge in Washington, who is handling a different legal challenge filed by several advocacy groups.

The reversal is the latest head-spinning move for a president who has pushed boundaries since taking office on Jan. 20. He has halted wide swaths of foreign aid, pardoned supporters who attacked U.S. Capitol police and offered buyouts to thin the ranks of civil-service workers.

Guantanamo plan

At the White House, Trump said he would order 30,000 beds prepared at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba military prison to handle migrants being deported as part of his immigration crackdown.

The White House said Trump would target pro-Palestinian student protesters for deportation as well by revoking their student visas, in a sign that people who are in the country legally could be targeted for their political views. Trump has been a vocal supporter of Israel during its war with Hamas.

Medical payments that had been disrupted by Trump's freeze had resumed on Wednesday, according to an association of state agencies.

However, the payment system for housing authorities was still not functioning, said Democratic Senator Patty Murray.

High-ranking Republicans and Democrats in Congress who oversee federal budgets and spending on Wednesday applauded the Trump administration's reversal.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins, a Republican, said in a statement that "while it is not unusual for incoming administrations to review federal programs and policies, this memo was overreaching and created unnecessary confusion and consternation."