Nutrition programs unaffected by Trump funding freeze, White House says

By Leah Douglas

(Reuters) - Nutrition programs that deliver food assistance to millions of U.S. families will not be affected by a White House pause on federal grants and loans, a senior official said on Tuesday.

The White House's Office of Management and Budget said in a memo on Monday that federal grants and loans would be put on hold for review to ensure the programs were aligned with President Donald Trump's priorities, such as ending diversity and inclusion efforts.

The pause, which could disrupt housing assistance, disaster relief, health care, and scores of other programs that rely on federal dollars, is set to go into effect on Tuesday evening.

Payments to individuals, including the Supplementary Nutrition Assistance program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) would not be affected, the senior administration official said.

About 42 million Americans receive SNAP benefits, which provides cash assistance for food to low-income households, and about 6 million receive WIC benefits, which provides food and nutrition education to low-income pregnant and postpartum women and their infants and young children, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

However, Ali Hard, policy director at the National WIC Association, said agencies that implement WIC, which is a federal grant program administered by state and local entities, had not yet been given guidance on implementation of the memo.

"For now, WIC remains open and families should continue to come in for appointments and redeem their benefits as usual," Hard said.

"Any policy that would put this program at risk would be catastrophic," Hard said.

(Reporting by Leah Douglas; Editing by Alison Williams)