WASHINGTON (OSV News) ─ A federal spending freeze announced by the Trump administration sparked confusion in Washington in the second week of the president's new term.
The same week in Washington, the U.S. Senate confirmed some of President Donald Trump's Cabinet nominees as questions remained about the viability of some of his other nominations.
-- Federal spending freeze prompts confusion --
The White House attempted to clarify what would and would not be impacted by a directive to freeze federal financial assistance programs. Administration officials said the pause was necessary to review whether spending was in compliance with Trump's executive orders on issues like eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
But the move prompted widespread confusion about how to implement such directives, including how it could impact public-private partnerships, such as the Meals on Wheels program. The White House said it rescinded a memo from its budget office that sparked the confusion, but White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the order remained in effect.
-- More of Trump's Cabinet nominees confirmed --
The U.S. Senate confirmed more of Trump's Cabinet nominees, including former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum as interior secretary in a bipartisan vote of 79-18.
Sean Duffy, the new transportation secretary, was confirmed the day before a midair collision between a regional jet operated by American Airlines that had been preparing to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and a U.S. military helicopter took place over the Potomac River, a deadly emergency to start his tenure.
Leavitt said at a briefing Jan. 31, "We expect the Senate to continue quickly confirming the remainder of President Trump's well qualified nominees in the days ahead."
But questions remain about whether some of Trump's nominees -- particularly Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence, Kash Patel for FBI director and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for secretary of Health and Human Services -- will ultimately be confirmed after each faced tough questions from senators in public hearings the same week.
-- Trump signs Laken Riley Act --
Trump signed the Laken Riley Act Jan. 29, the first piece of legislation of his first term. Both chambers of Congress approved the legislation the previous week. The measure is named for a 22-year-old Georgia nursing school student who law enforcement authorities said was murdered last year by a Venezuelan national in the United States illegally. Some of Riley's family members were in attendance at the ceremony.
The bill would require the detention of immigrants without legal status who are accused of theft or violent crimes.
During remarks at the ceremony, Trump appeared to contradict some analyst claims that economic concerns among voters primarily drove his reelection to the White House, saying that he believes it was the issue of illegal immigration.
"That's why I'm here instead of somebody else. Actually, it's the biggest reason," Trump said.
The same week, the Trump administration announced plans to detain up to 30,000 migrants at the Navy base at Guantánamo Bay, which the government has used to house those held on terrorism charges.
-- Anglican church boots priest over copycat Musk salute at D.C. pro-life rally --
A priest of the Anglican Catholic Church and British national had his license revoked by that denomination after its leadership said Jan. 29 he made a gesture that "many have interpreted as a pro-Nazi salute" during remarks at a pro-life rally earlier in January.
Father Calvin Robinson, who was previously the priest-in-charge of St. Paul's Anglican Catholic Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, spoke at the National Pro-Life Summit in Washington earlier in January. Father Robinson, a vocal critic of immigration in the United Kingdom, left the country in September 2024 for the United States after the election of the Labour government.
Days earlier, billionaire Elon Musk struck his chest and made a stiff-armed hand gesture -- twice -- at an Inauguration Day rally that some said appeared to evoke a Nazi salute, an accusation Musk dismissed on X as "sooo tired." But the incident sparked debate online about Musk's intent.
In an apparent attempt to imitate the incident, even using the same phrase as Musk did at the time -- "my heart goes out to you" -- Father Robinson made a similar gesture, but then he appeared to smirk at the audience.
In a statement, the Continuing Anglican denomination, which is not a church in communion with the Catholic Church, said, "While we cannot say what was in Mr. Robinson's heart when he did this, his action appears to have been an attempt to curry favor with certain elements of the American political right by provoking its opposition."
"Mr. Robinson had been warned that online trolling and other such actions (whether in service of the left or right) are incompatible with a priestly vocation and was told to desist," the statement read.
The Anglican group said it was making the administrative decision public because "we condemn Nazi ideology and anti-Semitism in all its forms."
"We believe that those who mimic the Nazi salute, even as a joke or an attempt to troll their opponents, trivialize the horror of the Holocaust and diminish the sacrifice of those who fought against its perpetrators," the statement said.
In a social media post, Father Robinson said, "I have not been defrocked. My licence was revoked. This means I cannot minister in ~250 ACC churches. I am still a priest."
-- U.S. bishops praise education executive order --
Trump signed two executive orders on school funding Jan. 29, one on promoting school choice and another on ending funding for schools that support what the White House called "radical indoctrination."
Bishop David M. O'Connell of Trenton, New Jersey, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Catholic Education praised the order on school choice, which the White House called "Expanding Educational Freedom and Opportunity for Families."
The order, in part, directs the secretary of education "to prioritize school choice programs in the Department's discretionary grant programs."
Bishop O'Connell argued that the order "takes meaningful steps to expand educational freedom for families across the country."
"This Order rightly recognizes that parents are the primary educators of their children," he said. "As the Church proclaimed in 'Gravissimum Educationis,' since parents have given children their life, they are bound by the most serious obligation to educate them and therefore must be recognized as the primary and principal educators of their own children."
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Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. Follow her on X @kgscanlon.
