Second federal judge orders temporary pause to Trump administration efforts to freeze funding

BOSTON (AP) — A second federal judge on Friday ordered a temporary pause in Trump administration efforts to freeze federal funding in the latest twist over the spending of trillions of dollars in grants and loans.

Judge John McConnell sided with nearly two dozen states that requested an emergency order preventing most federal agencies from halting funding.

Another judge in Washington halted the plan earlier this week minutes before it was set to go into effect, but her short-term order is only in place until Monday unless she decides to extend it.

McConnell ordered the federal government not to “pause, freeze, impede, block, cancel, or terminate” funding promised to the states while the temporary restraining order is in place.

“The Court must act in these early stages of the litigation under the ‘worst case scenario’ because the breadth and ambiguity of the Executive’s action makes it impossible to do otherwise,” McConnell wrote.

The decision was praised by several of the states that were part of the lawsuit.

“Today’s court decision reaffirms that the President cannot unilaterally take away federal funding, especially resources that our kids, seniors and economy rely on. His reckless actions unleashed chaos and confusion yet demonstrated the enormous power of attorneys general to fight back,” Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell said in a statement. “My office will keep fighting to protect Massachusetts residents from these egregious and unlawful abuses of power.”

Rhode Island Attorney General Neronha said he appreciated the fact McConnell saw the “irreparable harm that this directive would cause, and frankly has already caused, Americans across the country.”

“Make no mistake: this federal funding pause was implemented to inspire fear and chaos, and it was successful in that respect,” Neronha said in a statement. "These tactics are intended to wear us down, but with each legal victory we reaffirm that these significant and unlawful disruptions won’t be tolerated, and will certainly be met with swift and immediate action now and in the future.”

The federal government had opposed the order, arguing there was no basis for what they described as “sweeping relief.”

The decision from McConnell, who is based in Rhode Island and was appointed by former President Barack Obama, comes despite the Office of Management and Budget rescinding a memo outlining a sweeping pause on federal loans and grants.

McConnell found that recession was “in name-only” and his order was still necessary.

The White House press secretary has said that a funding freeze is still planned in line with President Donald Trump’s blitz of executive orders.

The Republican president wants to increase fossil fuel production, remove protections for transgender people and end diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

The memo, which was issued earlier this week by the OMB, had frightened states, schools and organizations that rely on trillions of dollars from Washington.

Administration officials said the pause was necessary to review whether spending aligned with Trump’s executive orders on issues like climate change and diversity, equity and inclusion programs. But two days later, they sent out a two-sentence notice rescinding the original memo.

A day later, Trump administration officials said programs that provide direct assistance to Americans, including Medicare, Social Security, student loans and food stamps, would not be affected. But that did little to ease the confusion.

Administration officials insisted that despite the confusion, their actions still had the intended effect by underscoring to federal agencies their obligations to abide by Trump’s executive orders. That prompted states to request the temporary restraining order.

In their motion, lawyers for Trump’s Justice Department argued the federal court lacked jurisdiction and the plaintiffs couldn’t use an order that was aimed initially against the OMB memo to seek broader action against Trump's executive orders.

They also argued that Trump and the OMB “plainly have authority to direct agencies to fully implement the President’s agenda, consistent with each individual agency’s underlying statutory authorities.”

“The President’s authority to direct subordinate agencies to implement his agenda, subject to those agencies’ own statutory authorities, is well-established,” Brett Shumate, the acting assistant attorney general, wrote.

The Trump administration did not have immediate comment on the order.

The ruling in favor of the states was not unexpected.

In a hearing Wednesday on the initial order from the states, McConnell had said he was sympathetic to the argument put forth from the states about the potential harm from any federal funding freeze.

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Associated Press writer Lindsay Whitehurst in Washington contributed to this story.