The Latest: Press secretary addresses Trump's pause on federal grants and loans in first briefing

  • Canadian Press

President Donald Trump greets a Marine Corps honor guard as he disembarks Marine One upon arrival on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Karoline Leavitt, the youngest person to serve as White House press secretary, made her debut in the briefing room Tuesday, saying that podcasters and social media influencers could apply to participate in future briefings.

It came as the White House i s pausing federal grants and loans as President Donald Trump's administration begins an across-the-board ideological review of its spending.

Here's the latest:

Trump's voters wanted the government to do less

Trump's voters in the November election were much more likely than voters overall to say that government was doing "too many things better left to businesses and individuals," according to AP VoteCast.

About two-thirds of his supporters said that government was too involved, whereas only about one-third said "government should do more to solve problems."

That was not a view shared by voters overall. Slightly more than half of voters, 53%, said the government should be doing more to address issues. Only 45% said the government was doing too many things that ought to be handled by individuals.

Caroline Kennedy warns against confirming her cousin Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to lead nation's health department

On the eve of his first confirmation hearing, she said her cousin "lacks any relevant government, financial management or medical experience" for the job.

But in a letter to the Senate committee leaders obtained by the Associated Press, Caroline Kennedy outlined personal qualities that "for me, pose even greater concern."

The letter was first reported by The Washington Post.

Caroline Kennedy said she tries not to speak for her father, the late former president John F. Kennedy, or his brothers, Robert F. Kennedy and Edward Kennedy, but she said she believes they "would be disgusted."

Leavitt says a White House freeze on federal aid wouldn't affect people directly receiving aid

But during her White House press briefing, she was much less clear about what will happen to those who get indirect aid -- through their states, other organizations or many other ways.

And while Leavitt said beneficiaries of programs like Social Security and Medicare would not be affected, she did not say Medicaid wouldn't be affected.

Pressed on Medicaid payments being cut off to individuals, Leavitt said "I'll check back on that."

The White House subsequently said Medicaid wouldn't be affected.

House Democratic leader to hold 'emergency' meeting on Trump funding freeze

In a letter to House Democrats on Tuesday, Leader Hakeem Jeffries blasted the Trump administration's federal assistance freeze as "ripping off hardworking Americans."

"The Republican Rip Off will raise the cost of living for the working class, while hurting children, seniors, veterans, first responders, houses of worship and everyday Americans in need," the New York lawmaker wrote. He added that Democrats will hold an emergency caucus meeting Wednesday to discuss a "comprehensive three-pronged counteroffensive."

New White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has wrapped up her first briefing

Leavitt took questions from reporters for nearly 50 minutes and repeatedly defended President Donald Trump on scores of issues -- including immigration crackdowns and a freezing of federal funding for a bevy of programs.

She noted that, at 27, she's the youngest-ever press secretary and said she'd been in the Oval Office speaking to Trump just before the briefing.

Leavitt was at time cautious, saying she "didn't want to get ahead" of Trump. She also swiped at former President Joe Biden, saying he might have been sleeping upstairs at the White House as inflation rose in recent years.

The drones over New Jersey were 'authorized' and 'not the enemy,' Trump administration says

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt delivered an update from Trump during a briefing Tuesday, saying the Federal Aviation Administration approved the flights, which captured the public's attention over a month ago.

"After research and study, the drones that were flying over New Jersey in large numbers were authorized to be flown by the FAA for research and various other reasons," Leavitt said. "Many of these drones were also hobbyists, recreational and private individuals that enjoy flying drones.

She added: "It got worse due to curiosity. This was not the enemy." She said the news came directly from the president.

The drones led to widespread curiosity as well as some confusion and worry last month. State and Biden administration officials had said there was no evidence of anything nefarious with the sightings.

Trump had said the "government knows" what was happening with the drones. He said at the time, "I can't imagine it's the enemy because if it's the enemy they'd blast it out."

Meals on Wheels says the confusion over the federal aid pause puts its programs at risk

"The lack of clarity and uncertainty right now is creating chaos for local Meals on Wheels providers not knowing whether they're going to be reimbursed for meals served today, tomorrow, who knows how long this could go on," spokeswoman Jenny Young wrote in an email. "Which unfortunately means seniors may panic not knowing where their next meals will come from."

The main funding for Meals on Wheels, which feeds more than 2 million seniors annually, and other senior nutrition programs is a grant distributed by the federal Administration on Aging to state governments that then send the money to individual providers.

"We need clarity now," Young added.

State health departments are scrambling to understand effects of the Trump administration's grant-funding memo

Spokespeople for South Carolina, Maine and Washington's agencies said they're still trying to determine how the federal document will affect them, including their funding.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills said in a statement that she was "deeply concerned" by the directive, which she added is "causing entirely needless chaos and confusion across Maine and the nation that will turn into real and serious harm if it continues."

Senate Republicans are mostly offering little resistance to Trump's pause on federal grants and loans

But they acknowledged it was a test of his power over Congressionally-approved programs and could affect their states.

Many GOP senators emphasized that the freeze was so far temporary and that they were trying to find out more about how far it would reach. Others said it was the right move.

"It makes sense to me," said Sen. Jim Banks, a Republican from Indiana.

Still, some cautioned that backlash could grow if the freeze is prolonged or if it affects programs like disaster aid.

Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican whose state of North Carolina is recovering from tropical storms, said, "I can't imagine that the president would knowingly cut off housing assistance for people displaced from their homes so we've just got to sort through it and see how they ultimately implement it."

Trump White House adds seats for 'new media voices' in the briefing room

During her first media briefing Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration was opening up seats beside her podium, which had traditionally been occupied by administration staff, to "new media voices."

Two of those seats were occupied Tuesday by Axios and Breitbart, a conservative news outlet.

Other traditional assigned seating in the room wasn't changed.

Leavitt said more Americans are getting their news from nontraditional new sources, rather than legacy outlets who already have briefing room seats.

"I take great pride in opening up this room to new media voices," she said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt started the first news briefing of the new Trump presidency

She began by going through the recent arrests of unauthorized immigrants.

Dressed in a magenta pantsuit with a cross necklace, Leavitt went on Tuesday through the administration's actions since Trump returned to the presidency last week. She said reporters have "access to the most transparent and accessible president in American history."

Leavitt said the White House will talk much more broadly to new media outlets and will accept applications from podcasters and social media influencers to be in the briefing room. Leavitt also said people who lost their White House press passes during Joe Biden's presidency will have their access returned.

The first question went to Mike Allen of Axios.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Trump has invited him to the White House on Feb. 4

This will make Netanyahu the first foreign leader to visit Washington in Trump's second term.

The visit comes as the United States is pressuring Israel and Hamas to continue a ceasefire that has paused a devastating 15-month war in Gaza.

CNN's Jim Acosta, an irritant to Trump, says he's quitting rather than take a late-night time slot

Acosta announced his departure Tuesday at the end of his one-hour morning show on the network, telling viewers: "Don't give in to the lies. Don't give in to the fear."

He didn't specifically tie those sentiments to President Trump, but the implication was clear. CNN says its decision to move Acosta out of the daylight and into a time slot to begin at midnight Eastern time had nothing to do with politics.

Less than a half hour before Acosta's announcement, Trump posted on social media that rumors that the anchor was leaving were good news. "Jim is a major loser who will fail no matter where he ends up," Trump said on Truth Social.

CNN announced last week -- Trump's first week back in office -- that it was shuffling its daytime lineup to move Wolf Blitzer into Acosta's 10 a.m. ET time slot, paired with Pamela Brown. The network said it had offered Acosta a job at midnight and would move him to Los Angeles, where his show would air at 9 p.m., and also simulcast the program on CNN International.

But Acosta, who has been at CNN for 18 years, said Tuesday he had turned that down.

? Read more about Jim Acosta's departure from CNN

Sean Duffy is confirmed by the Senate to lead the Transportation Department

It gives him a key role in helping President Donald Trump cut regulations and fix the nation's infrastructure.

The former Wisconsin congressman has promised safer Boeing planes, less regulation and help for U.S. companies developing self-driving cars -- while not giving any breaks to Elon Musk, a key player in that technology.

Duffy, a 53-year-old former reality TV star, was approved with bipartisan support on a 77-22 vote in the Senate.

He takes over the Department of Transportation at a crucial time at the agency, a massive employer of more than 55,000 that spends tens of billions of dollars annually, oversees the nation's highways, railroads and airspace and sets safety standards for trains, cars and trucks.

? Read more about Sean Duffy

West Virginia's GOP governor says Trump's funding pause 'generally is correct'

As of midday Tuesday, West Virginia Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey said he didn't yet have much insight into how the White House freeze on federal grants and loans would affect the state or its residents. Almost half of the state's annual budget is made up of federal funds.

"What we're going to do is we're going to try to unpack that and talk with the Trump administration about that," he said.

He then on to say "President Trump is going to be an amazing president."

"Look, I do think what President Trump is trying to do generally is correct," he said. "The federal government and quite frankly, the state government, has operated way beyond its means. Right? So you finally have leadership in Washington, you have leadership here in Charleston. I'm going to work just like President Trump to tackle the issues and be transparent."

Will billions for Medicaid be halted?

Medicaid is notably not exempt from a White House directive to pause all federal grants and loans by the end of day Tuesday. Medicare and Social Security, however, were spared in the memo.

The U.S. Health and Human Services agency doles out over a half trillion dollars to states in a joint partnership to run Medicaid, the nation's health care coverage for about 80 million of the poorest of Americans, including millions of children.

A spokesman for Illinois Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker's office said the state's agencies have reported issues accessing the website used to request disbursement for Medicaid payments.

HHS did not immediately respond to questions about the spending freeze and whether Medicaid payments would continue.

Voting rights groups are concerned about priorities shifting under Trump's Justice Department

That's because the Justice Department appears poised to take a very different approach to investigating voting and elections.

Conservative calls to overhaul the department by removing career employees, increasing federal voter fraud cases and investigating the 2020 election are raising concerns among voting rights groups about the future of the agency under Pam Bondi, a longtime ally of President Donald Trump.

Bondi supported Trump's legal efforts to overturn the 2020 Pennsylvania election results, has reiterated his false claims about his loss that year and during her Senate confirmation hearing refused to directly state that former President Joe Biden won, saying only that she accepted the results. She pledged to remain independent.

"Nobody should be prosecuted for political purposes," Bondi told senators.

The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee said after the hearing that he was struggling with Bondi's responses to key questions.

"Pam Bondi has proved herself loyal to Donald Trump and wealthy special interests -- and not the American people," Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin said in a Jan. 15 statement. "The American people deserve an attorney general who will protect their right to vote always, not only when it's convenient or suits your political party."

Bondi's nomination is scheduled for a committee vote Wednesday.

? Read more about the Justice Department and elections

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers: 'States are left to plan for the worst'

The Democratic governor wrote President Trump a letter Tuesday asking him to delay implementation of the pause on federal aid and provide "immediate guidance, information, and clarification" on its effects.

Evers said he was "deeply concerned that these actions could have disastrous consequences for the people of Wisconsin and our state."

Evers said more time is needed for a "thorough and thoughtful review and feedback from all those who may be directly impacted."

"With very few details and specifics available, virtually no time for ample review and consideration, and no direct communication to date, states are left to plan for the worst," Evers said in the letter.

He said Wisconsin residents and millions of Americans "rightfully alarmed and concerned by this unprecedented decision are left scrambling."

EPA says it's working to implement pause on federal grants and loans ordered by the White House

An Environmental Protection Agency spokeswoman says the pause will "align federal spending and action with the will of the American people as expressed through President Trump's priorities."

The agency is temporarily pausing all activities related to the obligation or disbursement of EPA federal financial assistance, spokeswoman Molly Vaseliou said Tuesday.

The EPA controls billions of dollars in grants and other spending, including through the Inflation Reduction Act and the bipartisan infrastructure law, as well as programs intended to ensure safe drinking water and other goals. The money goes to state and local governments as well as tribes and nonprofit groups.

"EPA is continuing to work with OMB as they review processes, policies and programs, as required by the memorandum," Vaseliou said.

NY Attorney General Letitia James plans to file a lawsuit to block the Trump administration's funding freeze

James, a Democrat, will ask a Manhattan federal court to issue a temporary retraining order halting the Republican administration's action, which is set to halt federal grants and funding streams.

"My office will be taking imminent legal action against this administration's unconstitutional pause on federal funding," James said in a social media post. "We won't sit idly by while this administration harms our families."

On Monday, she knocked the freeze as "reckless and dangerous" and a threat to families that rely on those funds.

James has been a fierce critic of Trump and his policies. She sued his first administration dozens of times, challenging policies on the environment, immigration, education, health care and other issues. She also fought Trump on his plans to include a question about immigration status on the Census, winning in the U.S. Supreme Court.

She also sued him over his practices as a businessman, winning a civil fraud judgment against him, his company and top executives last year that has soared to more than $500 million with interest. Trump is appealing.

A Trump defense department nominee faces questions over withholding Ukraine aid

President Donald Trump's nominee to be the military's top weapons buyer is an official who directed the Pentagon to withhold aid from Ukraine in 2019 as Trump sought a commitment from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate the Biden family -- a key component of the impeachment of Trump in his first term.

In a letter obtained by , Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren questioned whether Michael Duffey would follow the law as top weapons buyer overseeing a $311 billion budget. He's Trump's nominee to be undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment Monday about Duffey's nomination or whether his nomination signaled a change in direction for weapons support to Ukraine.

Advocacy groups ready to file the first lawsuit to challenge Trump's new order on transgender troops

It's the same legal team that spent years fighting Trump's ban on transgender troops in his first administration, tying it up in the courts before then-President Joe Biden scrapped it when he took office.

Trump's new order, signed Monday, claims the sexual identity of transgender service members "conflicts with a soldier's commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle" and is harmful to military readiness. It requires Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to issue a revised policy.

"The law is very clear that the government can't base policies on disapproval of particular groups of people. That's animus. And animus-based laws are presumed to be invalid and unconstitutional," said Shannon Minter, legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

? Read more about Trump's executive order transgender troops

Senators call Trump's funding freeze an attack on communities and the power of Congress

Democratic Senators are describing panicked calls coming overnight from communities back home afraid of what will happen to programs for children, seniors, public works and disease research as the Trump administration pauses federal funding for review.

"This is no way to govern," Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota, said at a news conference at the Capitol.

Congress has the power of the purse but the administration's action is seen as a direct challenge to that authority, all but courting legal action with drawn out lawsuits.

"This is a profound constitutional issue," said Sen. Angus King, the independent from Maine.

"What happened last night is he most direct assault on the authority of Congress. I believe , in the history of the United States," King said.

Senate Democrats call for postponing confirmation vote of Trump's budget chief

That comes after the "massive, massive overreach" of the administration's sudden funding freeze, said Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington state.

Trump's budget director nominee, Russ Vought, is widely understood to be the chief architect of the plan Murray said Americans did not sign up for.

"Trump's actions would wreak havoc in red and blue communities everywhere," Murray said.

"We are talking about our small towns, or cities our school districts," she said.

She said Vought's confirmation should be on hold until the Trump administration follows the law.

Longtime budget watchers warn Trump's funding freeze is threatening programs Americans depend on

"This new OMB memo is certain to cause chaos and could result in serious harm to a broad swath of people and communities around the country," wrote Sharon Parrott a former White House budget official who's now president of the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.

She said the Trump administration "seems determined to subvert Congress, its hand-waving about following the law notwithstanding."

Sen. Chuck Schumer says congressional offices have been 'deluged with calls from people in panic'

"This decision is lawless, dangerous, destructive, cruel. It's illegal," Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, said at the Capitol.

"Plain and simple, this is Project 2025."

Education Department says the pause doesn't apply to grants received directly by individuals

That includes the more than 40 million Americans with federal student loans and 7 million with federal Pell Grants for low-income students.

This means students who rely on federal financial aid to pay for tuition and other costs are not expected to see any disruption from the pause. Department officials said they're still reviewing the effect of the memo.

The White House memo on federal aid came as a shock to some

"We've never seen anything like this," said Marcia Howard, executive director of Federal Funds Information for States, a nonprofit that analyzes the effect of federal actions on states. "It is unprecedented."

Although the federal government has rescinded unspent funds in the past, it hasn't normally halted grants on the front-end, she said. The grant pause is perhaps most similar to a federal government shutdown, when a congressional impasse on spending legislation delays federal payments for some state and local services.

"What we generally have observed with states under those circumstances is that a couple of weeks isn't hugely disruptive," Howard said.

States on average receive about 30% of their revenues from the federal government, according to Federal Funds Information for States. The largest grant program is Medicaid, which provides health care for lower-income children and adults. But it's unclear whether the Trump administration's pause will interrupt the flow of Medicaid reimbursement funds to states.

The pause is the latest example Trump harnessing his power to advance his conservative goals

Washington is a hub of spending that flows to various departments, local governments, nonprofits and contractors, and the memo has left countless people who are dependent on that money wondering how they'll be affected.

Unlike during his first term, when Trump and many members of his inner circle were unfamiliar with Washington, this time he's reaching deep into the bureaucracy.

"They are pushing the president's agenda from the bottom up," said Paul Light, an expert on the federal government and professor emeritus of public service at New York University.

He also said there are risks in Trump's approach, especially with so many voters reliant on Washington.

"You can't just hassle, hassle, hassle. You've got to deliver."

Immigrant and refugee advocates were cut off even before Monday's funding pause

Last week, the Justice Department halted contracts to provide legal information to people facing deportation in immigration court. Government-funded nonprofit groups were told in an email "to stop work immediately" on helping people navigate the system's complex laws and procedures.

"We often hear that people don't know what's happening. Why are they detained? What's going to happen next? And we are being stopped from even giving that basic level of orientation," said Michael Lukens, executive director of Amica Center for Immigrant Rights.

The State Department told groups that give temporary housing and job training to resettled refugees to stop work immediately on government-funded efforts. Global Refuge said it affected 5,870 refugees under its watch.

"Recently arrived refugees who fled unimaginable danger and lawfully came to the U.S. rely on the initial assistance of Global Refuge to help them navigate life in America," Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, the group's president, wrote in a fund-raising pitch Monday.