Federal Freeze on Financial Assistance Gives Exception for Social Security and Medicare Payments

The detail was included in a footnote of a directive released by the Office of Management and Budget on Monday.

Blank Social Security checks are run through a printer at the US Treasury printing facility in Philadelphia, Pa., on July 18, 2011. William Thomas Cain/Getty Images

The Trump administration is freezing nearly all federal loans, grants, and other financial assistance starting Tuesday afternoon, according to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

The lone exceptions are for Social Security and Medicare payments, according to a footnote in a memo distributed on Monday by Matthew Vaeth, the acting director of OMB.