The Trump administration will put a temporary pause on federal grants and loans. The memo detailing the pause was unclear about the status of federal student aid.
Matthew J. Vaeth, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, sent out the memo to the heads of government departments and agencies on Jan. 27.
Vaeth said in the memo this gives the Trump administration time to evaluate the agency’s programs and determine if the “best uses of the funding for those programs consistent with the law and the President’s priorities.”
Citrus’ vice president of student services, Richard Rams, said in an email to the Citrus College community, “While the memo is unclear about the specific scope of the pause on federal grants and loans, Citrus College continues to monitor developments.”
Rams said in an email the college will continue to give federal aid to all eligible students as scheduled until directed otherwise.
In the 2021-22 academic year 8,048 Citrus students were served through financial aid such as the California College Promise Grant, grants, loans, scholarships and work studies.
Federal agencies must submit a “comprehensive analysis” of their financial assistance programs by Feb. 10.
“Trump administration officials said programs that provide direct assistance to Americans would not be affected, such as medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, student loans and food stamps,” the Associated Press said.
The New York Times provided a statement from the U.S. Department of Education regarding the impact of the pause.
“(The U.S. Department of Education) confirmed that no Pell grants or loans would be paused or delayed because of the order. Funding for the federal work-study program, which helps pay for campus jobs, will continue to flow, too,” the New York Times said,
The memo specifically targets “assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion), woke gender ideology, and the green new deal.”
The Office of Management and Budget “assists the President in overseeing the preparation of the Federal budget and evaluates the effectiveness of agency programs, policies, and procedures” while making sure the reports, rules, testimony and proposed legislation line up with the President’s budget and administration policies.
This follows Trump’s signing of the executive order to “terminate” DEI and DEIA programs in the federal government on Jan. 20 as well as talk from defense secretary Pete Hegseth about President Donald Trump’s plan to sign an executive order to remove DEI from the military.
The Clarion has reached out to the administrators at the college for further information. This story will be updated when more information is provided.
This story was updated 2:36 p.m. on January, 28 with the statement from the U.S. Department of Education provided by the New York Times.
