Judge Says Trump Admin Is Violating Order to Halt Funding Freeze

U.S. District Judge John McConnell Jr. on Monday demanded that the Trump administration comply with his earlier order to halt a freeze on federal funding that's being challenged in multiple court cases.

McConnell, appointed to the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island by former Democratic President Barack Obama, is responsible for the case brought by Democratic attorneys general of the District of Columbia and 22 states. He is one of two judges who have issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the administration's attempted freeze.

A week after McConnell granted the TRO, the attorneys general on Friday filed a motion for enforcement of it, telling the judge that "plaintiff states and entities within the plaintiff states continue to be denied access to federal funds" and "these denials continue to cause immediate irreparable harm," putting "jobs, lives, and the social fabric of life" at risk.

"This is a country of laws. We expect the administration to follow the law."

Although the Trump administration claimed that it had engaged in "good-faith, diligent efforts to comply with the injunction" and called for the motion to be dismissed, McConnell wrote Monday that "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."

"The defendants now plea that they are just trying to root out fraud," the judge noted in a five-page order. "But the freezes in effect now were a result of the broad categorical order, not a specific finding of possible fraud. 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. These pauses in funding violate the plain text of the TRO."

McConnell—the first judge to accuse the second Trump administration of violating a court order—issued six clear directives to the Trump administration:

• restore frozen funding;
• end any funding pause;
• take every step necessary to effectuate the temporary restraining order;
• comply with the plain text of the TRO not to pause any funds based on pronouncements incorporated in a now-rescinded Office of Management and Budget memo;
• restore withheld funds—including those appropriated in the Inflation Reduction Act and the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law; and
• resume funding agencies such as the National Institute for Health.

Welcoming the new order in a Monday statement, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said that "Judge McConnell's ruling in our favor was swift, and unsurprising."

"Judge McConnell's order confirmed what we have been saying from the beginning. It is now time for the administration to come into full compliance," Neronha continued. "This is a country of laws. We expect the administration to follow the law. Our office and attorneys general across the country stand ready to keep careful watch on the actions of this administration that follow, and we will not hesitate to go back to court if they don't comply."

New York Attorney General Letitia James shared a similar response on social media, stressing that Republican President Donald Trump "does not have the power to cut whatever spending he wants."

The Associated Pressreported Monday that "the White House did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment" but the U.S. Department of Justice "appealed the ruling to the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals."

The other TRO was issued a week ago by D.C.-based District Judge Loren AliKhan, an appointee of former Democratic President Joe Biden, in a case filed by nonprofits.

As Common Dreamsreported Sunday, in the face of multiple recent rulings against the second Trump administration, both Vice President JD Vance and billionaire Trump ally Elon Musk suggested that the power of judges should be limited or disregarded.