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Breaking: The Handbasket is first to report catastrophic OMB funding memo
Posted on Bluesky earlier this evening, other major outlets have since confirmed.
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Early Monday evening I received a copy of a memo that will impact thousands of institutions supported by funding from the federal government.
A copy of the memo from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) was provided to The Handbasket at approximately 5pm ET by a source whose anonymity is being protected for fear of professional retribution. The memo was sent to the heads of executive departments and agencies with the subject, “Temporary Pause of Agency Grant, Loan, and Other Financial Assistance Programs.” I shared the news on Bluesky at 6:04pm ET, and my reporting was confirmed by the Washington Post a few hours later.
It is a truly unhinged document that sounds like it was written by the world’s most petty 4Chan poster—but then again, that’s who’s currently running our federal government. Here’s the first paragraph to get a feel for it (emphasis mine):
The American people elected Donald J. Trump to be President of the United States and gave him a mandate to increase the impact of every federal taxpayer dollar. In Fiscal Year 2024, of the nearly $10 trillion that the Federal Government spent, more than $3 trillion was Federal financial assistance, such as grants and loans. Career and political appointees in the Executive Branch have a duty to align Federal spending and action with the will of the American people as expressed through Presidential priorities. Financial assistance should be dedicated to advancing Administration priorities, focusing taxpayer dollars to advance a stronger and safer America, eliminating the financial burden of inflation for citizens, unleashing American energy and manufacturing, ending "wokeness" and the weaponization of government, promoting efficiency in government, and Making America Healthy Again. The use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve.
The memo goes on to say that the “pause” on federal grants and loans is effective as of 5pm on Tuesday. OMB, which is part of the the Executive Office of the President, is asking agencies to do an “audit” of all grant programs to identify any that involve “financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal.” Any grants inconsistent with their philosophy of intolerance will be terminated. Agencies must submit programs, projects or activities that may fall under these categories by February 10th.
Another troubling fact is that they want to put grantmaking power in the hands of political appointees at each government agency, as opposed to career civil servants who best understand the work. It aligns with other breaking news today, including a memo about the implementation of another Trump executive order aimed at taking out people in “policy-determining,” “policy-making,” and “policy advocating” positions at federal agencies so they can be replaced by administration loyalists.
It remains to be seen exactly which organizations will be affected and how exactly the determinations will be made, but needless to say the impact of this will be immeasurable. Everyone from medical researchers to librarians, domestic violence advocates and firefighters, and workers at universities and hospitals will feel the force of this pause.
You’re probably wondering why I didn’t send this out earlier when I had the scoop. To be honest, I’ve been asking myself the same question. I think that despite the fact that I’ve proven to myself and to my readers that I have good news instincts, it can still be challenging to have the confidence to report a story with such far-reaching impact. Despite trusting my source implicitly, I still hesitated. I sat with my stomach in knots until I saw The Washington Post confirmed.
Despite the massive growth of independent journalism, there’s still this idea that news is only “real” once it’s confirmed by massive corporate outlets. After all, could one woman with absolutely zero institutional backing in leggings and a sweatshirt in her NYC apartment really be the one to break such an important story? Now we know the answer is yes. What I lack in resources I make up for with moxie and close relationships established over years.
I’m not saying any of this for your praise, but rather for your continued trust. My mission as a journalist is to do right by my readers and do right by the people who the new administration is attempting to grind to dust. I won’t allow them—and nor will the brave public servants sounding the alarm on this onslaught of governmental abuse—to be beaten into submission.
One week down. Many to go. Let’s do this, y’all.
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