The Trump administration announced Tuesday it would be freezing federal funding as it looks to implement its fiscal policy, something that sent states and some Americans into a tailspin. The move seemed to shut down the Medicaid portal and threaten veterans who get aid, infants whose mothers get WIC benefits and more.
Among the funding paused was $50 million that was going to be used for condom distribution in Gaza, according to officials.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt shared on Tuesday during a briefing following the freeze that among the funding to be stopped was $50 million that was going to be used to “fund condoms in Gaza.”
Leavitt shared that the Department of Government Efficiency, run by Elon Musk, and the Office of Management and Budget discovered the funds shortly before they were going to be disbursed. That was part of the sweeping cut that could've impacted millions of people, mostly elderly, children, and the poor, if a judge hadn't stepped in and frozen the federal spending cut before it could take effect.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called the sudden freeze on benefits "stupid, buffoonish, childish."
But the White House was eager to discuss the condoms part of the equation, and gave Elon Musk credit for it.
“DOGE and OMB also found that there was about to be 50 million taxpayer dollars that went out the door to fund condoms in Gaza,” she said. “That is a preposterous waste of taxpayer money.”
The International Planned Parenthood Federation has spoken out in support of condoms in humanitarian aid, Newsweek reported. It said that blocking aid shipments to Gaza would disrupt the “enormous gains” made in sexual healthcare. The group also says that Palestinians are “systematically denied sexual and reproductive healthcare and rights.”
Leavitt also noted that $37 million in funding was about to go to the World Health Organization, which President Trump has pulled the US out of through an executive order.
“That’s what this pause is focused on, being good stewards of tax dollars,” Leavitt said.
However, the freeze, which was set to go into effect Tuesday at 5 p.m. ET, is now on hold. US District Judge Loren AliKhan temporarily blocked the order on Tuesday, stopping it until next Monday, Feb. 3, at 5 p.m. ET.
The move to freeze federal funding comes after the State Department said Sunday that newly confirmed Secretary of State Marco Rubio would be reviewing “all foreign assistance programs to ensure they are efficient and consistent with US foreign policy under the America First agenda.”
“President Trump stated clearly that the United States is no longer going to blindly dole out money with no return for the American people. Reviewing and realigning foreign assistance on behalf of hardworking taxpayers is not just the right thing to do, it is a moral imperative. The Secretary is proud to protect America’s investment with a deliberate and judicious review of how we spend foreign assistance dollars overseas,” a State Department spokesperson said Sunday, Fox News reported.