特朗普白宫在引起广泛混乱后撤销了冻结联邦资金的备忘录
【中美创新时报2025 年 1 月 29 日编译讯】（记者温友平编译）唐纳德·特朗普总统的预算办公室周三撤销了一份冻结联邦贷款和赠款支出的备忘录，不到两天前，这份备忘录在全国范围内引发了广泛的混乱和法律挑战。美联社记者CHRIS MEGERIAN、ZEKE MILLER 和 LISA MASCARO 对此作了下述报道。
这份备忘录由管理和预算办公室于周一发布，令依赖华盛顿数万亿美元的各州、学校和组织感到恐慌。
政府官员表示，暂停是必要的，以审查支出是否符合特朗普关于气候变化和多样性、公平和包容性计划等问题的行政命令。
但在周三，他们发出了一份两句话的通知，撤销了原来的备忘录。这一逆转是最新迹象，表明即使华盛顿得到统一控制，特朗普大幅、迅速重塑政府的计划也存在局限性。
政府官员坚称，尽管存在混乱，但他们的行动仍然产生了预期效果，强调联邦机构有义务遵守特朗普的行政命令。
“总统就资金审查发布的行政命令仍然完全有效，所有机构和部门都将严格执行，”白宫新闻秘书卡罗琳·莱维特说，她将混乱归咎于法院和新闻媒体，而不是政府。“这一行动应该有效地结束法庭案件，让政府专注于执行总统关于控制联邦支出的命令。”
措辞含糊的命令、法律暂停和最终取消，让各组织再次感到困惑和担忧，不知道接下来会发生什么。
Nourishing Hope 在芝加哥经营食品储藏室、家庭送餐和在线食品市场，其食品预算的约 20% 来自联邦政府。首席执行官凯莉·奥康奈尔表示，备忘录公布后，最大的问题是获得清晰准确的信息，以便他们能够制定未来几个月的计划。
奥康奈尔表示，如果他们的联邦资金被冻结，他们可以坚持几周。但更广泛的担忧是食品券等援助可能会终止，这将增加对她所在组织的需求。
“如果这些援助大幅减少或取消，慈善食品系统几乎不可能继续提供援助，”她在谈到食品券时说。“这对我们的社区来说可能是灾难性的。”
周二，特朗普政府官员表示，向美国人提供直接援助的项目不会受到影响，包括医疗保险、社会保障、学生贷款和食品券。
然而，他们有时很难给出一个清晰的画面。莱维特最初没有透露医疗补助是否不受冻结影响，但政府后来澄清说是的。
白宫的政策转变令国会措手不及，尤其是特朗普的共和党盟友，他们在整个短暂的事件中一直为他辩护。
“这是唐纳德·特朗普。他把手榴弹扔到房间中间，然后又把房间收拾干净，”北达科他州参议员凯文·克莱默说。“我只是觉得这家伙是个天才。”
克莱默承认，最初的备忘录可能引起了太多的政治热议，红州和蓝州都对资金冻结发出了警告。但参议员暗示特朗普“可能不了解”所提议的广度。
但民主党人表示，白宫的做法超出了美国人的意愿。
“大多数人投票支持更便宜的鸡蛋，”新墨西哥州参议员马丁·海因里希说。“他们没有投票支持这种混乱。”
资金暂停原定于周二下午 5 点生效。在接受联邦拨款的非营利组织要求举行紧急听证会后，联邦法官将暂停令至少推迟到周一。民主党州检察长提起的另一项诉讼也悬而未决。
在最初的备忘录分发后，联邦机构被要求在 2 月 7 日之前回答关于每个项目的一系列是或否的问题。问题包括“这个项目是否促进性别意识形态？”和“这个项目是否以任何方式促进或支持堕胎？”
尽管特朗普曾承诺，如果连任成功，他将彻底改变华盛顿，但他暂停拨款的努力所造成的影响却波及到了远离首都的地方。像 Meals on Wheels 这样的组织，接受联邦资金为老年人送餐，担心资金被切断。即使是资金的暂时中断也可能导致裁员或公共服务延误。
明尼苏达州布卢明顿 73 岁的 Barbara Teed 说，当她得知资金冻结可能会影响到她时，她感到“恐慌，绝对的恐慌”。
Teed 和她 38 岁的儿子 Ryan 住在一起，Ryan 患有唐氏综合症。两人都从布卢明顿-伊甸草原 Meals On Wheels 领取餐食。
“有时这是我一天中唯一的一顿饭。所以这对我来说真的非常重要，”Teed 说。
雷尼尔·普里埃托 (Reynier Prieto) 的 5 岁儿子利亚姆 (Liam) 参加了南佛罗里达州复活节封印会 (Easterseals South Florida) 的 Head Start 项目，他说该项目正在帮助解决语言发展问题，以便利亚姆明年有望上公立学校。
“这是我们现在生活中最重要的事情，”普里埃托说。“这样我们就可以离开家去工作，而且我们知道他会得到很好的照顾。”
普里埃托说，失去 Head Start 这样的项目对许多家庭来说可能是坏事，政府官员应该花时间审查每个接受联邦资金的项目。
“像这样的项目，他们需要审查，确保不被削减，因为这实际上有助于社区，”普里埃托说。
民主党批评者庆祝备忘录的撤销。
“这是美国人民的一次重要胜利，在来自全国各地的巨大压力下，他们的声音被听到了，”华盛顿参议员帕蒂·默里 (Patty Murray) 说。她说，特朗普“给数百万人造成了真正的伤害和混乱”。
纽约州参议院民主党领袖查克·舒默表示，“美国人进行了反击，而唐纳德·特朗普却退缩了。”
美联社驻芝加哥记者索菲亚·塔林、驻明尼阿波利斯记者马克·范克利夫和驻迈阿密记者大卫·菲舍尔对本报道亦有贡献。
题图：白宫。DOUG MILLS/NYT
附原英文报道：
Trump White House rescinds memo freezing federal money after widespread confusion
By CHRIS MEGERIAN, ZEKE MILLER and LISA MASCARO The Associated Press,Updated January 29, 2025
The White House.DOUG MILLS/NYT
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s budget office on Wednesday rescinded a memo freezing spending on federal loans and grants, less than two days after it sparked widespread confusion and legal challenges across the country.
The memo, which was issued Monday by the Office of Management and Budget, had frightened states, schools and organizations that rely on trillions of dollars from Washington.
Administration officials said the pause was necessary to review whether spending aligned with Trump’s executive orders on issues like climate change and diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
But on Wednesday, they sent out a two-sentence notice rescinding the original memo. The reversal was the latest sign that even with unified control of Washington, Trump’s plans to dramatically and rapidly reshape the government has limits.
Administration officials insisted that despite the confusion, their actions still had the intended effect by underscoring to federal agencies their obligations to abide by Trump’s executive orders.
“The Executive Orders issued by the President on funding reviews remain in full force and effect and will be rigorously implemented by all agencies and departments,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, blaming the confusion on the courts and news outlets, not the administration. “This action should effectively end the court case and allow the government to focus on enforcing the President’s orders on controlling federal spending.”
The vaguely worded order, legal pause and eventual cancellation left organizations confused and worried again about what might be next.
Nourishing Hope, which runs foods pantries, home meal delivery and an online food market in Chicago, gets roughly 20% of its food budget comes from the federal government. CEO Kellie O’Connell said the biggest issue when the memo surfaced was getting clear and accurate information so they could figure out how to plan for the coming months.
If their federal funds were frozen, O’Connell said, they could make it a few weeks. But the wider concern was the possible end of assistance, like food stamps, which would increase demand on her organization.
“If that were to significantly diminish or get eliminated, it will be nearly impossible for the charity food system to step up,” she said of food stamps. “It would be potentially catastrophic for our communities.”
On Tuesday, Trump administration officials said programs that provide direct assistance to Americans, including Medicare, Social Security, student loans and food stamps, would not be affected.
However, they sometimes struggled to provide a clear picture. Leavitt initially would not say whether Medicaid was exempted from the freeze, but the administration later clarified that it was.
The White House’s change in direction caught Congress off guard, particularly Trump’s Republicans allies who had defended him throughout the brief saga.
“This is Donald Trump. He throws hand grenades in the middle of the room, and then cleans it up afterwards,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota. “I just think the guy’s a genius.”
Cramer acknowledged the initial memo may have generated too much political heat, with red and blue states raising alarms over the funding freeze. But the senator suggested Trump “maybe didn’t understand the breadth” of what had been proposed.
But Democrats said the White House had overreached beyond what Americans want.
“Most people voted for cheaper eggs,” said Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico. “They did not vote for this chaos.”
The funding pause was scheduled to go into effect at 5 p.m. Tuesday. It was stayed by a federal judge until at least Monday after an emergency hearing requested by nonprofit groups that receive federal grants. An additional lawsuit by Democratic state attorneys general was also pending.
After the initial memo was distributed, federal agencies were directed to answer a series of yes or no questions about each program by Feb. 7. The questions included “does this program promote gender ideology?” and “does this program promote or support in any way abortion?”
Although Trump had promised to turn Washington upside-down if elected to a second term, the effects of his effort to pause funding were being felt far from the nation’s capital. Organizations like Meals on Wheels, which receives federal money to deliver food to the elderly, were worried about getting cut off. Even temporary interruptions in funding could cause layoffs or delays in public services.
Barbara Teed, 73, of Bloomington, Minnesota, said she felt “panic, absolute panic,” when she learned the freeze could affect her.
Teed lives with her 38-year-old son, Ryan, who has Down syndrome. Both receive meals from Bloomington-Eden Prairie Meals On Wheels.
“This is sometimes my only meal of the day. So it’s really, really important to me,” said Teed.
Reynier Prieto, whose 5-year-old son, Liam, attends the Head Start program at Easterseals South Florida, said the program is helping address speech development issues so that Liam can hopefully attend public school next year.
“It’s the most important thing for our life right now,” Prieto said. “That’s the way that we can go out of our home and work, and we know that he’s in good hands.”
Losing a program like Head Start could be bad for many families, and government officials should take the time to examine each one that receives federal money, Prieto said.
“Programs like this, they need to review it and make sure that it’s not cut because this actually helps the community,” Prieto said.
Democratic critics of the order celebrated the memo’s rescinding.
“This is an important victory for the American people whose voices were heard after massive pressure from every corner of this country,” said Sen. Patty Murray of Washington. She said Trump had “caused real harm and chaos for millions.”
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said that “Americans fought back and Donald Trump backed off.”
Associated Press writers Sophia Tareen in Chicago, Mark Vancleave in Minneapolis and David Fischer in Miami contributed to this report.
