The White House Office of Management and Budget on Wednesday rescinded a memo that froze federal grants and loans and created widespread confusion this week.

WASHINGTON - The White House Office of Management and Budget has rescinded a Trump administration directive pausing federal loans, grants and other financial assistance, the White House confirmed on Wednesday.

The White House budget office on Wednesday rescinded an order freezing federal grants, according to a copy of a new memo obtained by The Washington Post, after the administration’s move to halt spending earlier this week provoked a backlash.

The freeze on hundreds of billions of dollars of federal grants had been temporarily halted by a judge on Tuesday.

The order sparked uncertainty over a crucial financial lifeline for states, schools and organizations that rely on trillions of dollars from Washington.

Trump’s early, extraordinary steps pose a direct challenge to a fundamental underpinning of the Constitution: the power of the purse.

The White House is considering challenging the constitutionality of a 50-year-old law limiting the president’s control over federal spending, easing the firing of civil servants, curbing pay and reining in independent agencies,