Ceiling whacked

So there are some checks on Trump and his loonies. Good to know.

The White House budget office rescinded a memo ordering a broad freeze on federal grants and loans after Republican senators “hit the ceiling” over the order, which caught them completely by surprise and created confusion in their home states.

“Republicans were starting to hit the ceiling because the state governments, people in our states were coming to us saying, ‘Wait, wait, wait, wait. What does this mean? Does it mean we’re going to lose funding for X, Y, Z?’” said one Republican senator who requested anonymity to discuss the uproar behind closed doors caused by the memo. “As drafted the initial memo sounded so broad, and it sounded like a new order. It sounded like it was a new freeze, which was super confusing,” the senator added.

A second Republican senator who requested anonymity said the memo the White House budget office dropped on Monday was “shocking” and caused a lot of confusion throughout the Senate Republican conference. “We were all hyperventilating because of the pause on federal funds and programs,” the lawmaker said.

So even Republican senators don’t actually think there should be zero money spent on anything non-military. Good to know.

Republican senators led by Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told the White House directly that the OMB directive was written far too broadly.

Does it please me that the leaders were both women? Yes, yes it does.

“I made clear that I thought it was too sweeping, that it was causing a lot of confusion and consternation in my state, particularly for non-profit organizations, and I’m glad that it’s apparently been rescinded,” Collins said Wednesday afternoon.

Republicans standing up for funding non-profits. Whaddya know.

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