“Losing federal support would devastate our community, jeopardize critical projects, and harm our most vulnerable Austinites,” Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said in a statement shared to social media Wednesday afternoon, adding that he was thankful the White House memo outlining the freeze had been rescinded.

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.

The White House on Wednesday issued a memo to federal employees scrapping its original memorandum, according to a document viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Matthew J. Vaeth, the