The pause was scheduled to take effect at 17:00 local time on Tuesday, but the judge's stop was announced only minutes before, writes Bloomberg.
The White House's announcement to introduce a pause to allow the new government under Donald Trump to initiate an "ideological review" of expenditures sparked intense debate on Tuesday.
The initiative was motivated in a statement by the White House's acting budget chief Matthew Vaeth, stating that the use of state resources to promote, among other things, "Marxist equality policy" and transgender ideology is a waste of taxpayers' money.
The grant pause was feared to affect thousands of billions of dollars and hit, among other things, research in healthcare and education programs.
It was, however, unclear exactly which actors would be affected, which caused great uncertainty at various departments, authorities, organizations, and companies dependent on state grants and loans, writes AP.
The White House announced, however, that support directed at individual Americans, such as the healthcare program Medicare, food stamps, and student loans, would not be affected.
The judge's blocking comes as a result of several non-profit organizations joining forces to sue the Trump administration. According to the organizations, even a temporary pause could deprive people of, among other things, healthcare.
Corrected: In an earlier version, an exaggerated size of the total amounts covered by the pause was stated.
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