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During a virtual hearing on Tuesday afternoon, a federal judge temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s freeze on all federal foreign and domestic aid. U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan issued a brief administrative stay, which came minutes before the funding freeze was scheduled to go into effect.  Judge  AliKhan said that the stay preserves federal disbursements at least until Monday at 5 p.m. EST.

Earlier on Tuesday, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget has instructed all federal agencies to cease spending on any financial assistance programs if they suspect it might conflict with President Trump’s recent executive orders. A memo from the White House budget office ordered a pause on all federal grants and loans, potentially impacting trillions in government spending and halting public programs that affect millions of Americans.  The memo stated that federal departments faced a 5 p.m. deadline Tuesday to cease spending on any financial assistance programs (per NBC NEWS.)

White House Office of Management and Budget acting director Matthew Vaeth said in the memorandum that federal agencies “must temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance.”  The memo specified the pause will not affect Social Security or Medicare benefits, nor does it include “assistance provided directly to individuals,” but it applies to other relevant agency activities that may be implicated by the executive orders, including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal.

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In the first White House press briefing of President Donald Trump’s second administration on Tuesday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the mystery drone sightings over New Jersey and along the East Coast late last year were “authorized to be flown by the FAA.   The drone activity was first reported on Nov. 19 by the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office, and caused temporary flight restrictions in New Jersey throughout November/December 2024.

Leavitt said: “I do have news directly from the president of the United States that was just shared with me in the Oval Office, from President Trump directly, an update on the New Jersey drones. After research and study, the drones that were flying over New Jersey in large numbers were authorized to be flown by the FAA for research and various other reasons. Many of these drones were also hobbyists, recreational and private individuals that enjoy flying drones. In time, it got worse due to curiosity. This was not the enemy.”

In December, mysterious drone sightings in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and other states on the East Coast prompted a demand for officials to find the source of the flying objects, some of which were spotted near military installations.  Trump suggested at the time that the Biden administration knew more than it was revealing to the public about the drones: “they know where it came from and where it went. “And for some reason, they don’t want to comment. And I think they’d be better off saying what it is. Our military knows and our president knows. And for some reason, they want to keep people in suspense.”

The Biden administration shared a statement from the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the FAA and the Department of Defense on Dec. 16 that said while there were indeed drones flying over New Jersey, they constituted a “combination” of lawful aerial activity. Their joint statement read: “having closely examined the technical data and tips from concerned citizens, we assess that the sightings to date include a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones.”

Editorial credit: Cristi Dangeorge / Shutterstock.com