White House Office of Management and Budget
Temporarily Pauses All Federal Funding
Impacts on Public Transportation Funding Unclear
On January 27, 2025, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memorandum (M-25-13) temporarily pausing all Federal Government grants and loans, including U.S. Department of Transportation grants and loans. The memorandum requires Federal agencies to identify and review all Federal financial assistance programs to ensure that they align with the President’s policies and requirements (e.g., Executive Orders).
To implement these Executive Orders, each agency must complete a comprehensive analysis of their Federal financial assistance programs to identify those programs, projects, and activities that may be implicated by any of the Orders. According to the memorandum,
In the interim, to the extent permissible under applicable law, Federal agencies must temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance…including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, [diversity, equity, and inclusion] DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal.
The temporary pause is effective on January 28, at 5:00 p.m.
Today, OMB issued additional clarifying information, noting that the pause does not apply across the board. It is expressly limited to programs, projects, and activities implicated by the President’s Executive Orders, such as ending DEI, the green new deal, and funding nongovernmental organizations that undermine the national interest. The specific Executive Orders listed in the guidance are:
Protecting the American People Against Invasion
Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid
Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements Unleashing American Energy
Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing
OMB also provided additional instructions to Federal agencies regarding their program analysis.
The U.S. Department of Transportation will have to determine how to apply these directives to DOT programs, including Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) grants and loans. Of most immediate concern is whether DOT will allow FTA and FRA to continue to reimburse legally binding commitments without interruption.
In Fiscal Year 2024, FTA provided $20.9 billion for public transit programs and FRA provided $16.3 billion for passenger and freight rail. To view FTA’s FY 2024 State-by-State apportionments and allocations, please click here.
Senate Confirms Secretary of Transportation
Today, the Senate confirmed Sean Duffy as Secretary of Transportation by a vote of 77-22. APTA issued a statement congratulating Secretary Duffy.