OMB memo rescission only adds to the confusion created by the administration’s broader efforts to halt funding for federally-funded health, education, housing, disaster relief, and other critical programs—leaving critical services in limbo.

For Immediate Release: January 29, 2025
Contact: Lasamee Kettavong, media@napawf.org

WASHINGTON D.C. – On Tuesday, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) abruptly halted federal grants and loans, disrupting the operations of health organizations, nonprofits, and businesses that rely on federal funding to serve their communities. This sudden action—compounded by the subsequent rescission of an OMB memo (but not the spending freeze itself)—has left programs in chaos, unable to access critical government services and supports with little to no guidance.

Officials claim the freeze targets initiatives linked to “foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal.” Its broad and arbitrary implementation threatens essential services across the country—including reproductive healthcare, domestic violence support, and gender-based violence programs that serve Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women and gender-expansive individuals. 

Although a federal judge temporarily blocked this effort, this administration’s directive–if enacted–will be devastating for AAPI families and communities who rely on federally funded programs for survival.

“Despite the persistent ‘model minority’ myth, many Asian Americans face deep economic disparities in wages, housing, and financial security,” said Sung Yeon Choimorrow, executive director of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF). “Federal assistance grants and programs are a lifeline for organizations such as our Gender Justice Collaborative partners who rely on federal grants to sustain their work empowering and achieving equity for AAPI women, girls, and gender expansive individuals, helping to close those gaps and provide stability for our communities. AAPI women and gender-expansive individuals—especially survivors of gender-based violence and those living on low incomes—are among those who stand to suffer most from this reckless and unjust funding halt.”

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The National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) is the only multi-issue, progressive, community organizing and policy advocacy organization for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women and girls in the U.S. NAPAWF’s mission is to build collective power so that all AAPI women and girls can have full agency over our lives, our families, and our communities.