BOSTON — A second federal judge on Thursday extended a block barring the Trump administration from freezing grants and loans potentially totaling trillions of dollars.
U.S. District Court Judge John McConnell in Rhode Island granted the preliminary injunction in the lawsuit filed by nearly two dozen Democratic states after a Trump administration plan for a sweeping pause on federal spending stirred up a wave of confusion and anxiety across the United States.
In his ruling, McConnell said the executive branch was trying to put itself above Congress and by doing so “undermines the distinct constitutional roles of each branch of our government.”
“The Executive has not pointed to any constitutional or statutory authority that would allow them to impose this type of categorical freeze,” McConnell wrote. “The Court is not limiting the Executive’s discretion or micromanaging the administration of federal funds. Rather, consistent with the Constitution, statutes, and caselaw, the Court is simply holding that the Executive’s discretion to impose its own policy preferences on appropriated funds can be exercised only if it is authorized by the congressionally approved appropriations statutes.”
The states say a litany of programs are still waiting for federal funds or some clarity on whether the money is going to be delivered. McConnell also said the states had demonstrated standing in this case.
“The States have introduced dozens of uncontested declarations illustrating the effects of the indiscriminate and unpredictable freezing of federal funds, which implicate nearly all aspects of the States’ governmental operations and inhibit their ability to administer vital services to their residents,” he wrote. “These declarations reflect at least one particularized, concrete, and imminent harm that flows from the federal funding pause — a significant, indefinite loss of obligated federal funding.”
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said President Donald Trump, a Republican, has “attempted to subvert the rule of law in favor of illegal executive power” through his executive orders.
“We don’t have kings in this country, and today’s preliminary injunction reaffirms that,” Neronha, a Democrat, said in a statement.
“Americans pay taxes to the federal government knowing that the Congress will allocate their dollars towards agencies and programs that will support them in their daily lives,” he continued. “The President’s federal funding freeze would be laughable if it wasn’t so utterly destructive. It flies in the face of everything we know to be true about our government, namely our separation of powers, by attempting to render the Congress as irrelevant.”
Among the funding impacted is billions of dollars that would fund rooftop solar power in low-income neighborhoods, subsidizes low- and moderate-income households’ purchase and installation of electric heat pump water heaters and grants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful pollutants.
“The Trump administration’s illegal funding freeze jeopardized law enforcement funding, essential health care and childcare services, and other critical programs that millions of Americans rely on,” New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, said in a statement.
The White House previously said the temporary funding halt would ensure that the payments complied with Trump’s agenda, which includes increasing fossil fuel production, removing protections for transgender people and ending diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
The Republican administration has since rescinded a memo outlining the funding freeze. Still, many state government, universities and nonprofits have argued federal agencies continue to block funding for a range of programs.
U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan in Washington has also extended an order blocking the funding freeze. AliKhan granted a preliminary injunction requested by groups representing thousands of nonprofits and small businesses.
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