News

A White House order to freeze funding for many federal grants, loans, and assistance programs has been temporarily blocked by a federal judge.

By: Brad Randall, Broadband Communities

A judge has delayed a federal funding freeze that was set to go into effect on Tuesday evening.

According to The Hill, U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan blocked the funding freeze mere minutes before it was due to take effect.

The judge’s order grants an administrative stay on the order until 5 p.m. Monday, The Hill reported.

Under the controversial order, issued by the White House Office of Management and Budget, agencies will have until Feb. 10 to submit “detailed information on any programs, projects or activities subject to this pause.”

The order, had it gone into effect Tuesday, would have begun a temporary pause on federal grant, loan, and financial assistance programs.

As reported earlier by Broadband Communities, some have expressed fears that the pause could impact broadband projects supported through the Capital Projects Fund (CPF) and the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP).

The TBCP is “a $3 billion program directed to tribal governments to be used for broadband deployment on tribal lands, as well as for telehealth, distance learning, broadband affordability, and digital inclusion.”

According to a memo explaining the order, agencies must pause funding until the office “has reviewed and provided guidance to your agency with respect to the information submitted.”

Additionally, the memo stated that agencies must “initiate investigations when warranted to identify underperforming recipients, and address identified issues up to and including cancellation of awards.”

It remains unclear to what extent BEAD funds would be affected if the order is allowed to hold up next week.

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