On Monday US District Judge of the District Court for the District of Rhode Island, John McConnell, an Obama appointee, accused President Trump of violating his court order blocking his federal funding freeze.
Last month Judge McConnell temporarily blocked Trump’s freeze on federal funding in response to a request from 22 Democrat state attorneys general and DC.
Trump’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) previously put a temporary pause of agency grant, loan and other financial assistance programs.
“The American people elected Donald J. Trump to be President of the United States and gave him a mandate to increase the impact of every federal taxpayer dollar. In Fiscal Year 2024,of the nearly $10 trillion that the Federal Government spent, more than $3 trillion was Federal financial assistance, such as grants and loans,” the OMB said.
“This memorandum requires Federal agencies to identify and review all Federal financial assistance programs and supporting activities consistent with the President’s policies and requirements,” the OMB memo said.
This temporary pause will provide the Administration time to review agency programs and determine the best uses of the funding for those programs consistent with the law and the President’s priorities. The temporary pause will become effective on January 28, 2025, at 5:00 PM. Even before completing their comprehensive analysis, Federal agencies must immediately identify any legally mandated actions or deadlines for assistance programs arising while the pause remains in effect. Federal agencies must report this information to OMB along with ananalysis of the requirement. OMB also directs Federal agencies to pause all activities associated with open NOFOs, such as conducting merit review panels,” the OMB added.
On Monday, Judge McConnell accused Trump of failing to comply with his court order.
“The States have presented evidence in this motion that the Defendants in some cases have continued to improperly freeze federal funds and refused to resume disbursement of appropriated federal funds,” McConnell wrote, NBC News reported.
Excerpt via NBC News:
A federal judge in Rhode Island Monday said that the Trump administration violated his order halting a sweeping federal funding freeze and ordered the government to “immediately restore frozen funding.”
U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell handed down the order after the plaintiffs in the case, a coalition of 22 states, said the government had not restored funding in several programs despite his Jan. 31 order temporarily halting the wide-ranging Office of Management and Budget directive that had caused chaos and confusion across the country.
Justice Department lawyers argued in a court filing that they didn’t believe the order covered some of the frozen funding, and that some of the funding at issue is under review to make sure it’s “appropriate.
“The Defendants now plea that they are just trying to root out fraud. But the freezes in effect now were a result of the broad categorical order, not a specific finding of possible fraud,” McConnell wrote. “The broad categorical and sweeping freeze of federal funds is, as the Court found, likely unconstitutional and has caused and continues to cause irreparable harm to a vast portion of this country.”
Judge Loren AliKhan, a Biden appointee, granted a temporary stay on Trump’s plan to freeze federal funding.