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Judge Says Trump Admin Is Violating Order to Halt Funding Freeze
"Judge McConnell's ruling in our favor was swift, and unsurprising," said Rhode Island's attorney general. "It is now time for the administration to come into full compliance."
Feb 10, 2025
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.
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Another Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump's Funding Freeze
"This administration's reckless plan to block federal funding has already caused chaos, confusion, and conflict throughout our country," said New York's attorney general, who is leading the legal challenge.
Jan 31, 2025
A federal judge in Rhode Island on Friday delivered another blow to U.S. President Donald Trump's effort to dramatically overhaul the government, temporarily blocking the Republican's funding freeze that sparked chaos and confusion this week.
U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell Jr. granted a temporary restraining order in response to a lawsuit filed by the attorneys general of the District of Columbia and 22 states. His move came after Washington, D.C.-based District Judge Loren AliKhan issued an administrative stay that blocked Trump's funding freeze until a Monday hearing, in a case launched by nonprofits.
After AliKhan's Tuesday decision, the Trump administration rescinded the relevant memo from Matthew Vaeth, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). However, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on social media Wednseday: "This is NOT a rescission of the federal funding freeze. It is simply a rescission of the OMB memo."
"Why? To end any confusion created by the court's injunction," Leavitt wrote, stressing the president's executive orders "on federal funding remain in full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented."
Citing Leavitt's post in a 13-page order, McConnell explained that the administration tried to claim "that this matter is moot because it rescinded the OMB directive. But the evidence shows that the alleged rescission of the OMB directive was in name only and may have been issued simply to defeat the jurisdiction of the courts. The substantive effect of the directive carries on."
The temporary restraining order is in effect until further action from McConnell, an appointee of former Democratic President Barack Obama. Although the Trump administration can move forward with its review of federal funds, it cannot "pause, freeze, impede, block, cancel, or terminate" funding to the states or D.C. The judge also prohibited "reissuing, adopting, implementing, or otherwise giving effect to the OMB directive under any other name or title or through any other defendants."
"McConnell's order was expected, as he had signaled following a hearing Wednesday that he was inclined to issue the temporary pause of the Trump administration's directive," CBS Newsnoted Friday.
Still, the Democrats behind the legal challenge celebrated their win. New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement that "this administration's reckless plan to block federal funding has already caused chaos, confusion, and conflict throughout our country. In the short time since this policy was announced, families have been cut off from childcare services, essential Medicaid funds were disrupted, and critical law enforcement efforts were put in jeopardy."
"I led a coalition of attorneys general in suing to stop this cruel policy, and today we won a court order to stop it," she continued.
"The president cannot unilaterally halt congressional spending commitments. I will continue to fight against these illegal cuts and protect essential services that New Yorkers and millions of Americans across the country depend on."
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said that "I am grateful for Judge McConnell's careful consideration of this matter and for seeing the irreparable harm that this directive would cause, and frankly has already caused, Americans across the country."
"As we allege in our complaint, the executive branch does not have the authority to intercept crucially important federal funding that the Congress has already allocated to the states, and on which Americans rely," he emphasized. "This directive targets public safety, healthcare, veterans' services, childcare, disaster relief, and countless other cornerstones of American life."
"Make no mistake: This federal funding pause was implemented to inspire fear and chaos, and it was successful in that respect," he added. "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."
As The New York Timesreported:
Judge McConnell's Friday order does not block the Trump administration from continuing its review, only from defunding those programs that fail its tests in the states that sued—New York, California, Illinois, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin, along with the District of Columbia.
In that sense, it may create a divide between Democratic states that will continue to have funds flowing and Republican states that will still face uncertainty.
The judge's decision came as Trump and billionaire Elon Musk—the richest person on Earth and chair of the president's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—attack the federal government in various ways, including by trying to purge the federal workforce.
As
The Washington Post reported Friday that the U.S. Treasury Department's highest-ranking career official, David Lebryk, is leaving his post after clashing with Musk allies over access to payment systems that the agency uses to distribute over $6 trillion, Reuters revealed the DOGE leader's said have "locked career civil servants out of computer systems that contain the personal data of millions of federal employees."
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Ex-Biden Official Gabe Amo Defeats Progressive Aaron Regunberg in Rhode Island
"The inability to convert on a winnable race," wrote one observer, "should alarm national progressive groups."
Sep 06, 2023
Former Biden administration official Gabe Amo won the special Democratic primary for an open U.S. House seat in Rhode Island's 1st Congressional District on Tuesday, defeating frontrunner Aaron Regunberg, an ex-state representative who was backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Regunberg's loss to Amo, who served as deputy director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, was seen as a significant disappointment for progressives in the heavily blue district previously represented by Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), who stepped down earlier this year.
If Amo defeats Republican Gerry Leonard in November, he will be the first Black person to ever represent Rhode Island in Congress.
Cicilline did not endorse in the crowded primary race, but Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.)—a friend and political ally of Cicilline—backed Regunberg, as did the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, the Working Families Party, Our Revolution, Friends of the Earth Action, and other progressive organizations.
Justice Democrats, whose organizing work has been key to progressive primary victories in recent years, did not get involved in the race as the group struggles to raise money.
Some local left-wing groups, including the Democratic Socialists of America's Providence chapter, opposed Regunberg and criticized Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez for endorsing the Rhode Island Democrat, pointing to the backing his campaign received from a super PAC.
As The American Prospect's Luke Goldstein wrote in a recap of Tuesday's contest, Progress RI's support for Regunberg included "a $5,000 contribution from his mother and $125,000 from his father-in-law, an executive at a global investment firm."
Amo's fundraising also came under fire.
According to a memo released by the Working Families Party in the final stretch of the campaign, the former Biden administration official's campaign received tens of thousands of dollars from lobbyists working for companies that represent Big Pharma, the parent corporation of Fox News, the oil and gas industry, tobacco companies, and Wall Street.
HuffPost's Daniel Marans noted Tuesday that Amo "got a last-minute assist from former U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy, who represented the House seat for 16 years before Cicilline."
After endorsing Amo, Kennedy "aggressively attacked Regunberg in a local television interview," Marans reported, "calling him an 'extreme' ideologue whose support for a smaller defense budget would jeopardize Rhode Island jobs―and even Democrats' hold on the House seat. (Biden carried the seat by 29 percentage points in 2020.)"
But Marans pointed out that "Regunberg would not have been a member of the left-wing 'Squad.'"
"He cited Cicilline as a model of effective progressive governance," Marans explained, "and touted his own work on the passage of state laws ensuring workers paid sick leave, raising the state's tipped minimum wage, creating a commission to study the use of solitary confinement, enacting online voter registration, and encouraging homeowners' adoption of solar panels."
Polling released in the lead-up to Tuesday's race showed that Regunberg was in the lead, but a significant percentage of voters surveyed were undecided in the days ahead of the special election.
Goldstein argued in the Prospect that "the inability to convert on a winnable race... should alarm national progressive groups as they limp into the next election cycle."
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