WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s budget office on Wednesday rescinded an order freezing spending on federal grants, less than two days after it sparked widespread confusion and legal challenges across the country, according to two people familiar with the matter.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s budget office on Wednesday rescinded an order freezing spending on federal grants, less than two days after it sparked widespread confusion and legal challenges across the country, according to two people familiar with the matter.

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