(NewsNation) — The Trump administration is poised to place an immediate hold on $27.5 million in family-planning grants, the Wall Street Journal first reported.
The funding freeze — spurred by an investigation into whether Title X organizations used funding for diversity, equity and inclusion purposes — would come from the Health and Human Services Department, according to the journal’s reporting.
If enacted, the freeze would cut more than 20% of the $120 million dollars earmarked for family-planning organizations, including Planned Parenthood affiliates, an unnamed HHS spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal.
Action from the Robert F. Kennedy Jr.-led agency would affect a network of 4,000 clinics around the country. Millions depend on Title X clinics for free and discounted healthcare services, including pregnancy tests, contraception, counseling and cancer screenings, according to HHS data.
Planned Parenthood and its affiliates have called the potential hold shameful.
“This is blackmail. President Trump and Elon Musk are holding Planned Parenthood patients hostage by slashing funds from birth control providers who receive Title X grants,” president and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson told NewsNation in a statement.
HHS is reportedly reviewing grants to make sure they’re in line with President Donald Trump’s efforts to crack down on DEI — making good on an executive order Trump signed during his first hours of presidency.
According to reporting from the Wall Street Journal, a decision to suspend funding could come by the end of this week.
An HHS official told NewsNation no final decisions on spending changes for Planned Parenthood have been made. They did not clarify a timeline for a decision.