Trump releases billions in education funding withheld over "radical left-wing" allegations
Washington DC - President Donald Trump's administration announced on Friday that it would release $5.5 billion in education funding that had been put on hold at the start of July.
About $5.5 billion worth of funding had been withheld from public schools, including money for the training of teachers, arts and music education, and language support for migrants.
The funding is to be returned after the Trump administration halted the congressional approval of education funding on June 30, a single day before the July 1 deadline.
"OMB has completed its review of [Education Department funding], and has directed the Department to release all," Madi Biedermann, Assistant Secretary for Communications at the White House, told USA Today in a statement on Friday.
The White House on July 18 also released about $1 billion in funding to after-school and summer learning programs after pressure mounted on the Trump administration.
Trump administration sued over withholding of education funds
Funding was initially paused based on claims that the Federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) had discovered examples of money being "grossly misused to subsidize a radical left-wing agenda."
A coalition of 24 states as well as the District of Columbia within weeks sued the Trump administration for withholding the money, alleging that the move was illegal based on the Impoundment Control Act of 1974.
The law stipulates that a US president cannot refuse to distribute money that has already been appropriated by Congress.
A number of Republican lawmakers were also unhappy and wrote a joint letter to the OMB asking them to "faithfully implement" the funding measures that had already been signed into law.
"We share your concern about taxpayer money going to fund radical left-wing programs. However, we do not believe that is happening with these funds," the letter read.
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