Update, February 1, 2025, 9 a.m.: On Friday, January 30, District Judge John McConnell granted a Temporary Restraining Order blocking the Trump administration’s grant freeze following a lawsuit filed by 23 states’ attorneys general.
Update, January 30, 2025, 7:50 p.m.: A second email from Provost Baicker sent Wednesday night told faculty “continue your research normally unless you’ve received direct communication otherwise from your funding agency.”
In a memo issued Wednesday afternoon, White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Acting Director Matthew J. Vaeth informed heads of federal executive agencies and departments that a Monday memo freezing federal grants and loans had been rescinded. The updated guidance comes after District Judge Loren AliKhan issued an administrative stay on Tuesday evening, temporarily blocking most of the freeze just before it would have gone into effect.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told the Maroon in a statement that the OMB rescinded Monday’s memo solely to end confusion on the policy, not to affect reviews of federal funding instituted by a number of recent executive orders.
“In light of the injunction, OMB has rescinded the memo to end any confusion on federal policy created by the court ruling and the dishonest media coverage. 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,” the statement read.
In the Monday memo, OMB ordered a freeze of all federal grants until they could be reviewed for their compliance with the Trump administration’s priorities.
“The use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve,” the memo read.
The White House said it hoped the administrative stay of the freeze and review would soon be lifted now that the memo has been rescinded: “This action should effectively end the court case and allow the government to focus on enforcing the President’s orders on controlling federal spending. In the coming weeks and months, more executive action will continue to end the egregious waste of federal funding.”
The order threatened hundreds of millions in federal funding for research conducted at UChicago and prompted University Provost Katherine Baicker to email faculty on Tuesday morning, asking them to (retaining original formatting) “temporarily suspend their non-personnel spending on federal grants.”
Administrators at other universities, including Yale and Stanford, had shared messages similar to Baicker’s but notably did not ask faculty to stop conducting most research without an explicit stop-work order.
“Yale faculty, staff, and students should continue federally funded work except for cases where the university has received specific stop-work orders,” Yale President Maurie McInnis and Provost Scott Strobel wrote in an email. “In the meantime, we should all be mindful of the impact of university spending in light of these uncertainties.”
A statement from Stanford’s president, provost, and vice provost to the Stanford community read: “Based on our initial assessment, and in light of the extensive uncertainty about the Memo’s meaning, we do not believe it is necessary or appropriate to pause federally-funded research activities at Stanford at this time.”
At Brown, University President Christina H. Paxson and Provost Francis J. Doyle III clarified their commitment to preserving the academic freedom of students and faculty, and their willingness to “exercise our legal right to advocate against laws, regulations or other actions that compromise Brown’s mission,” but did not provide specific guidance on how researchers should proceed.
UChicago’s email was sent only to faculty, whereas Yale’s went to both faculty and students. Stanford and Brown published public statements.
When asked for comment Tuesday afternoon, the University referred the Maroon to Baicker’s email.
On Wednesday afternoon, District Judge John McConnell indicated during a hearing that he would likely grant a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the OMB directive after a group of 23 states’ attorneys general sued to block the freeze.
Specifically, McConnell cited statements by Leavitt indicating that the new guidance was “NOT a rescission of the federal funding freeze.”
“While the piece of paper may not exist, there’s sufficient evidence that the defendants collectively are acting consistent with that directive,” McConnell said during Wednesday’s hearing, “and therefore the arguments that they have about needing a [restraining order] exist.”
Anushree Vashist contributed reporting.
Un-impressed. / Jan 30, 2025 at 2:38 pm
“Flip-flop” betrays subjectivity and, therefore, biased reporting. Neutral language is a tenet of any respectable publication.
0 days without a bozo in the maroon comment section / Jan 30, 2025 at 6:48 pm
“Flip-flop” is something your intelligence is comparable to, and therefore, nothing you say is of worth. No language would be preferred from any morally bankrupt commenters such as yourself.
JP / Jan 31, 2025 at 8:12 am
No real issue analysis. Not worthy of a serious response.
Being a "real issue" doesn't mean you deserve "real issue analysis" / Jan 31, 2025 at 3:13 pm
Funny, I thought the same while typing my original comment. Don’t cry when your unserious point is met with equally unserious responses.
Alum / Jan 30, 2025 at 6:01 am
Don’t despair. That was a worthwhile warning shot for what is to come.
Alivisatos and Baicker lacked the spine to dismantle the DEI bureaucracy themselves. Now they and their woke ilk are being dragged, kicking and screaming, to do what should have been done ages ago. Shut it down. Shut it ALL down. Eradicate the wokelican infestation… FORTHWITH. No more diversity sinecures. No more insipid, self-fellating ideologues.
Buckle up. The Maroon’s apparatchik will be first to go once the policy is reinstated; I’ll make sure of it.
Sell your thesaurus and buy some intelligence instead / Jan 30, 2025 at 6:41 pm
I don’t think anyone who overuses 5 dollar words to try and sound more intelligent gets to call anything self-fellating.
Fool / Jan 31, 2025 at 8:10 am
When someone like me addresses you, it’s in your best interest to respond very respectfully and very seriously. Respecting your betters is a necessity in life.
You have refused to engage with me properly. You will have no further opportunities to prove yourself to me.
Some parting words: dodging issue analysis with weak, irrelevant remarks merely exposes your intellectual limitations.
If only you were even half as smart as you imagine yourself to be / Jan 31, 2025 at 3:06 pm
There must be some misunderstanding because I don’t recall disrespecting any of my betters in my post. The difference between you and me is while neither of us wrote particularly intellectually stimulating posts, I chose to match your level so that you would understand, and you are incapable of rising above the drivel you mistake to be “issue analysis” and intellectually worthwhile. It would be uncharitable of me to say you didn’t get anything right here, so I must applaud you on entering your name correct this time.
Stop talking immediately / Feb 1, 2025 at 5:57 pm
The radical democrats and communists invading our country like yourself and mixing politics with law.
Trump will eliminate the deep state and drain the swamp. If not, you’ll see reckless spending for welfare. You’ll see racial grievance politics and hatred towards your people ruin your ancestral nation. You’ll see declines in education standards and living standards.
One day, your knees will buckle under the weight of your endless sins. Soon.