Democrats declare victory after Trump rescinds federal freeze memo — but press secretary tosses cold water on the celebration

Democrats declared victory over the Trump administration after the president rescinded a federal aid freeze memo on Wednesday, but his press secretary ruined the party.

Newly inaugurated President Donald Trump issued the federal freeze in order to perform an audit to ensure that taxpayer money did not go toward operations and policies opposed to his executive orders. Democrats hammered at the administration with stories of those who would be hurt by the freeze.

‘The president’s EOs on federal funding remain in full force and effect and will be rigorously implemented.’

On Wednesday, the administration issued a memo saying the memo had been rescinded.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the former House speaker, claimed that Americans had won this round against the Trump administration and referenced an issued judgment that temporarily delayed the freeze from going into effect.

“Not only did a Judge BLOCK the Trump administration from harming America’s families and communities with a federal aid freeze, but the White House just backed down from their scheme to target programs millions of Americans rely on — for now — because YOU spoke out,” wrote Pelosi on social media. “Keep it up!”

Very soon after, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt released a statement explaining that the order had not been rescinded, only the memo about the order.

“This is NOT a rescission of the federal funding freeze. It is simply a rescission of the OMB memo. Why? To end any confusion created by the court’s injunction,” wrote Leavitt on social media.

“The president’s EOs on federal funding remain in full force and effect and will be rigorously implemented,” she added.

Democrats had popularized reports that payments from Medicaid had stopped on Tuesday, sending many people who depend on the program into a panic. Later in the day, the White House said that the Medicaid website portal was experiencing an outage.

Democratic Socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York also said the administration had been defeated.

“This is Trump’s first major loss. When we fight, we win,” she wrote. “We may not have majorities in the House and the Senate, but we DO have the power to loudly educate and mobilize against the mass looting the Trump admin is attempting against our veterans, healthcare, education, and more.”

Democratic Rep. Joe Neguse of Colorado also mocked Republicans for defending the order.

“House Republicans spent the past 24 hours shamelessly defending President Trump’s unconstitutional funding freeze — only for him to rescind it this morning!” he posted on social media.

The judgment against the freeze pauses the action until Monday and applies only to active programs.

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