Washington DC - The Trump administration's attempt to suspend trillions of dollars in federal grants, loans, and other aid was temporarily blocked at the last minute by a federal judge as the president's shock move unleashed chaos.

Judge Loren AliKhan halted the order until at least Monday, after several non-profit groups filed suit claiming it was illegal.

Attorneys general of over 20 Democratic-led states later filed a separate suit seeking to block the Donald Trump's radical decision.

Even before the suspension was set to begin, online portals used to access the Medicaid health insurance program for poor families and disabled individuals became inaccessible.

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"This is a blatant attempt to rip away health insurance from millions of Americans overnight and will get people killed," Oregon Senator Ron Wyden posted on X.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the website would be fixed soon and that "no payments have been affected."

She defended the drastic move, which was immediately challenged in court, as part of Trump's bid to make the government "good stewards of taxpayer dollars."

The freeze is not a "blanket" stop on spending, but a tool to check that "every penny that is going out the door is not conflicting with the executive orders and actions that this president has taken," Leavitt claimed.

She listed as examples racial equality and climate change programs that Trump has vowed to eradicate, but dodged questions about whether Medicaid recipients would be cut off.

Trump's far-right aide Stephen Miller later told CNN that Medicaid was not targeted and, in a post on X, said the confusion was a "media hoax," despite its very real impacts.

The order, signed by acting director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Matthew Vaeth, did not make clear how a pause on disbursements of funding will work or for how long.

Federal spending included more than $3 trillion in financial assistance like grants and loans in fiscal year 2024 – all of which was approved by Congress.

Democrats accused Trump of usurping Congress' constitutionally mandated control over budget spending and attempting to force the government to bend to his personal will. Protesters also rallied in front of the White House to demand the release of crucial funds.

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In the past week, his administration has fired independent government watchdogs and several career prosecutors who were involved in an official probe of his attempts to overthrow the 2020 election.

Democratic Senator Patty Murray called the order "a brazen & illegal move."

Another Democratic senator, Richard Blumenthal, said the order will create "havoc" in medical and research facilities, which receive major government funding, while Vermont's Bernie Sanders accused Trump of acting like a king.

The White House memo explicitly stated that Social Security and Medicare benefits – used by retirees – were excluded from the pause.

Areas that might be impacted, it said, include "financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal" – vague buzzwords that animate the far-right in the US.