Second federal judge blocks Trump administration’s funding freeze

A second federal judge has blocked the Trump administration’s attempts to freeze federal funding, writing in his opinion that the plan would have “catastrophic consequences” on the country.

Judge John J. McConnell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island issued a preliminary injunction Thursday in a case brought by Washington and 22 other states. In his ruling, McConnell wrote that the executive branch has attempted to subvert Congress’ authority to control spending.

“Federal agencies and departments can spend, award, or suspend money based only on the power Congress has given to them – they have no other spending power,” McConnell wrote. “The Executive has not pointed to any constitutional or statutory authority that would allow them to impose this type of categorical freeze.”

The injunction comes after the director of the Office of Management and Budget issued a Jan. 27 memo that directed federal agencies to “complete a comprehensive analysis of all of their Federal financial assistance programs to identify programs, projects, and activities that may be implicated by any of the President’s executive orders.”

According to the directive, this included “financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the Green New Deal.”

A day later, Washington joined 21 other states in challenging the order. According to the lawsuit, Washington state received more than $27 billion in federal funding between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024, which accounted for 32% of the state’s budget.

Following the Jan. 27 memo, K.D. Chapman-See, director of the Office of Financial Management, wrote in an email that the directive would “halt” a wide array of state programs, were it to take effect, which included food stamps, highway construction and planning funds, low-income home energy assistance, and special education grants, among other impacts.

Approximately $13 billion of the funding Washington receives reimburses Medicaid distributions. According to the initial complaint, while Medicaid reimbursements were intended to be exempt from the memo, Washington was temporarily unable to draw funds for Medicaid reimbursements.

“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,” the judge 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.”

While the memo has since been rescinded, the states have argued that federal agencies have continued to withhold funding.

“This is an important victory,” Washington Attorney General Nick Brown said in a statement Thursday. “The judge made clear this was a ham-handed, arbitrary, capricious, and fact-free attempt to circumvent the U.S. Constitution.”

Under Thursday’s order, the federal government is required to provide proof of compliance with the order by March 14 and alert federal agencies of the order.

“It is difficult to perceive any rationality in this decision – let alone thoughtful consideration of practical consequences – when these funding pauses endanger the States’ ability to provide vital services, including but not limited to public safety, health care, education, childcare, and transportation infrastructure,” McConnell wrote in his order.

Last month, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., issued a separate preliminary injunction to block the federal funding freeze.