Healthcare payments frozen by DOGE review process

The U.S. DOGE Service is putting new curbs on billions of dollars in federal healthcare grants, requiring government officials to manually review and approve previously routine payments — and paralyzing grant awards to tens of thousands of organizations, according to 12 people familiar with the new arrangements (Source: “DOGE begins to freeze health-care payments for extra review,” Washington Post, April 17).
 
The effort, which DOGE has dubbed “Defend the Spend,” has left thousands of payments backed up, including funding for doctors’ and nurses’ salaries at federal health centers for the poor. Some grantees are waiting on payments they expected last week.
The Trump administration is pushing to cut federal spending and crack down on grants that political officials say conflict with White House priorities.
 
DOGE, which stands for the Department of Government Efficiency, said the new initiative, which is being rolled out across parts of the Department of Health and Human Services, will force grantees and officials to justify spending and create transparency.