President Donald Trump seemingly halted all funding disbursements for the Inflation Reduction Act in an executive order on Monday, January 20, 2025.
The executive order titled “Unleashing American Energy” included a section titled “Terminating the Green New Deal” which stated that “all agencies shall immediately pause the disbursement of funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 or the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.”
The executive order stated that this included things like funding for electric vehicle charging stations.
The freeze in funding was quickly met with confusion surrounding exactly which disbursements were frozen.
The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memorandum on Tuesday, January 21, 2025, with the intent to clear up any confusion.
The memorandum, titled “Memorandum to the Heads of Departments and Agencies,” stated that the pause only applies to funds supporting programs, projects, or activities that may be implicated by the policy established in Section 2 of the order.
According to a news article, Section 2 of the executive order doesn’t discretely list portions of the two laws for which money should be paused.
The pause in funding gives federal agencies 90 days to submit reviews and spending recommendations to the OMB and National Economic Council.
The memorandum states that “agency heads may disburse funds as they deem necessary after consulting with the OMB.”
