The first days of the new Trump administration have been characterized by a whirlwind of activity designed to reform and trim the size of the federal government and ensure that the president's agenda is implemented as swiftly as possible.

However, in the wake of a flurry of controversy that erupted in the wake of a spending freeze memo issued by the White House, officials rescinded the communication in hopes of clearing confusion Trump says was unnecessarily sown by the media, as the Washington Examiner reports.

Memo issued, confusion ensues

It was on Monday that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memo ordering federal agencies to put a temporary freeze on the disbursement of grants and loans, a move designed to make certain that funds are not being spent on programs incongruous with the president's agenda, as Roll Call explains.

The pause was set to take effect at Tuesday at 5 p.m., and it was instituted in part to eliminate what the administration described as “Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies.”

Matthew Vaeth, acting OMB director, said, “Career and political appointees in the Executive Branch have a duty to align Federal spending and action with the will of the American people as expressed through Presidential priorities,” adding that the memo “requires Federal agencies to identify and review all Federal financial assistance programs and supporting activities consistent with the President's policies and requirements.”

It did not take long for Democrats and members of the mainstream media to seize on the memo and declare it an attempt to circumvent Congress by withholding duly appropriated funding from the American people, with Senate Minority Leader decrying what he said was “lawlessness and chaos” that would extract “an awful price,” as Fox News reports.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt went to great lengths to tamp down concerns raised by critics, saying, “To individuals at home who receive direct assistance from the federal government: You will not be impacted by this federal freeze,” reinforcing the notion that those entitled to Social Security and Medicare benefits, food stamps, welfare benefits, and the like would not be affected.

Court intervenes, administration responds

As the outcry over the administration's memo began to grow, a federal judge issued a temporary block on Trump's funding pause on Tuesday, doing so just minutes before it was slated to take effect, as the Associated Press reports.

U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan halted implementation of the freeze via an administrative stay, with the order set to remain in effect until Monday afternoon, and soon after, a group of attorneys general from 22 Democrat-led states as well as the District of Columbia also filed suit to permanently prevent any halt on the disbursement of appropriated federal funds.

As the Examiner noted, the administration on Wednesday rescinded its funding freeze memo, saying that the move was necessary in order to “end the confusion,” with Leavitt nevertheless maintaining that it did not mean that the spending halt had been abandoned.

“This is NOT a recission of the federal funding freeze. It is simply a rescission of the OMB memo. Why? To end any confusion created by the court's injunction,” Leavitt said. “The President's EO's on federal funding remain in full force and effect and will be rigorously implemented.”

Leavitt went on, as The Hill notes, to demand an end to court actions related to the initial memo, stating that the rescission “should effectively end the court case and allow the government to focus on enforcing the President's orders on controlling federal spending.”

Trump stands firm

Whether or not the memo's recission will, as Leavitt hopes, bring about an end to litigation on the matter remains an open question, but it seems clear that Trump has no intention of diverging from the cost-slashing promises he made to the American people during his campaign.

“To correct any confusion that the media has purposely and somehow, for whatever reason created -- Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid have not been affected by any action we're taking in any way, shape or form,” Trump said on Wednesday. “We are merely looking at parts of the big bureaucracy where there has been tremendous waste and fraud and abuse. I could stand here all day and tell you many things we have found,” he added, suggesting that the fight is likely only just beginning.