Policy Alert

Policy Alert: OMB Directs Immediate Pause of Federal Financial Assistance Programs

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has issued a memorandum requiring all federal agencies to temporarily pause their grant, loan, and other financial assistance programs beginning January 28, 2025, at 5:00 PM. This sweeping directive affects approximately $3 trillion in federal financial assistance and requires agencies to review all programs for alignment with new executive priorities. The full extent of the impact on federal funds to Tribal Nations is unclear. 

Agencies must submit comprehensive reviews of their financial assistance programs to OMB by February 10, 2025. During this review period, agencies must assign senior political appointees to oversee each assistance program and evaluate all pending funding announcements. The memorandum grants agencies authority to modify unpublished announcements, withdraw published ones, and potentially cancel existing awards that don’t align with new priorities, subject to legal constraints.

OMB released a second memo providing additional information:

“The guidance establishes a process for agencies to work with OMB to determine quickly whether any program is inconsistent with the President’s Executive Orders. A pause could be as short as day. In fact, OMB has worked with agencies and has already approved many programs to continue even before the pause has gone into effect.

Any payment required by law to be paid will be paid without interruption or delay.”

To help us gauge the impact of this announcement on Tribal Nations, please forward any agency notifications or communications to your Tribe regarding federal funding to info@nafoa.org.

NAFOA will share additional information as it becomes available.

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For any other questions or concerns, please contact Nicholas Lovesee, Director of Policy, at nicholas@nafoa.org

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