"We are taking a thoughtful approach to see where there may be opportunities for more effective and efficient use of resources in line with meeting the goals of President Trump," Andrew G. Nixon, HHS' director of communications,

Cate Martell reports: "We did see that, last week, President Trump did attempt to try to freeze all federal aid. He did most notably note that that is excluding payments directly to Americans. So that did not affect entitlements.

Elon Musk’s team have been tearing through US agencies, including the Treasury Department and the US Agency for International Development.