Trump executive order will strip funds from Catholic Charities, White House says

WASHINGTON (OSV News)—The White House on Jan. 28 sought to clarify what would and would not be impacted by a directive to freeze federal financial assistance programs and suggested it would seek to strip federal funds from nongovernmental organizations including Catholic Charities as part of its effort to enforce its immigration policies.

Catholic Charities USA urged the Trump administration to reconsider the freeze of the funds in a Jan. 28 statement. A judge temporarily blocked the freeze the same day.

The White House budget office ordered a pause on all federal grants and loans, which could impact trillions of dollars in government spending and halt public programs that affect millions of Americans, according to a memo from that office. These orders could impact Catholic entities that rely on such grants.

In her debut press briefing as White House press secretary Jan. 28, Karoline Leavitt said “this is not a blanket pause on federal assistance in grant programs from the Trump administration,” arguing “individual assistance” will not be impacted, listing “Social Security benefits, Medicare benefits, food stamps, welfare benefits” as examples.

“It is the responsibility of this president and this administration to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars,” she said, arguing the directive was to combat “wokeness” running afoul of Trump’s other executive orders on topics including diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.

More: https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2025/01/29/white-house-trump-strip-funds-catholic-charities-249802