As the White House paused federal grants and loans in a far-reaching executive order, early childhood education centers and states discovered Tuesday they could no longer access money they rely on to provide care for some of the nation’s neediest families and children.

Trump's directive to pause federal grants raised concerns for programs like Meals on Wheels and Head Start. While direct assistance such as Social Security and Medicare remains unaffected, uncertainty surrounds funding for community-based nutrition and early childhood education services reliant on federal grants.

U.S. Representative John Garamendi, along with 33 of his colleagues, sent a letter to Health and Human Services and the Office of Head Start demanding that they immediately address

The withdrawal of the federal freeze was a stunning about-face for President Donald Trump’s White House, which has so far pushed the envelope to reshape the federal government, sowing chaos and confusion in firing career civil servants, pausing foreign aid programs and offering federal workers a buyout.

A federal funding freeze by the Trump administration causes confusion for San Antonio's Headstart programs, impacting early education services.

As President Donald Trump paused federal grants and loans in a far-reaching directive, early childhood education centers and states discovered Tuesday they could no longer access money they rely on to provide care for some of the nation's neediest families and children.