White House pauses all federal grants, sowing alarm

Democrats have warned it may have brutal and far-reaching consequences.In her first news conference as White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt defended the directive, saying the motivation for the freeze is being "good stewards for tax dollars". "I think this is a very reasonable measure," she said on Tuesday, adding that the pause would allow the government to weed out spending for "woke" gender issues and diversity programmes that conflict with Trump's executive orders. Medicare and..