House Tribal and External Affairs Leader Rep. Scott Fetgatter, R-Okmulgee, today expressed thanks to the Trump Administration for clarifying the freeze on federal grant and loan funding.

In a White House press briefing today, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the U.S. Office of Management and Budget memo implementing the freeze on Tuesday had been rescinded ensuring the pause would not to affect programs including Social Security benefits, Medicare, Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and others that provide direct benefits to individuals.

"While I'm incredibly thankful for President Trump's diligence to scrutinize the spending of every penny of taxpayer dollars at the federal level," Fetgatter said, "I'm also relieved for the assurance that Oklahomans that rely on assistance dollars won't have any immediate impact on the benefits they currently receive."

As soon as the funding pause was announced, Fetgatter began working to collect information from state agencies and the state's congressional delegation about the impact of the pause and to get a timeline. He said there was never an indication that state agencies that dispense aid such as Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP, funds for small businesses and farmers, Pell grants, Head Start, rental assistance and other similar programs were impacted by the temporary pause.

It's important to note that the executive orders mentioned in the memo have not been rescinded and funding supporting other programs is still under review.

Fetgatter said he will continue to monitor the situation and will be ready to respond given new information.