A federal judge late Tuesday paused a sweeping order from the Trump administration to temporarily freeze trillions of dollars in federal grants and loans. It was welcome news amid a day of total chaos that left everyone from lawmakers to hospital administrators to preschool teachers scrambling to figure out what the hell the administration’s Monday night directive meant for them. White House officials spent the day insisting the funding pause was legal, even as they were forced to clarify its scope throughout the day. Casey Burgat, director of the Legislative Affairs program at George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management, explains why the administration faces an uphill legal battle defending it's order.

And in headlines: Newly confirmed Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem wants everyone to know she’s a ‘Hot Mama,’ the Trump administration offers deferred resignation to government employees, and President Donald Trump signed another executive order targeting trans people.

Show Notes:

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