The Department of Veterans Affairs moved with breakneck speed Tuesday to review its programs that oversee grants, loans and financial assistance to outside organizations, declaring that 44 programs targeted by a federal funding freeze would continue.

Democrats harshly criticized President Donald Trump’s plan to invoke a federal freeze on filling vacancies and adding jobs for non-clinical positions at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The Washington Post's Rhonda Colvin and James Hohmann are joined by White House reporter Cat Zakrzewski to discuss President Trump's first week back in office – and what happened the night he decided to fire more than a dozen government inspectors general.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt vehemently defended the administration’s sweeping freeze on federal aid, arguing Tuesday in her first press briefing that it was critical to scrutinize the scope of the government’s spending.

Nutrition programs that deliver food assistance to millions of U.S. families will not be affected by a White House pause on federal grants and loans, a senior official said on Tuesday. The White House's Office of Management and Budget said in a memo on Monday that federal grants and loans would be put on hold for review to ensure the programs were aligned with President Donald Trump's priorities,

Everyone wanted to know the same thing: had the Trump administration actually frozen federal funds and would they be able to keep functioning? On Tuesday morning, the answer from Washington was: we’re trying to figure that out.