A Federal district court judge in Rhode Island ruled today to approve a preliminary injunction that blocks the Trump administration from pursuing a freeze on trillions of dollars of congressionally approved grant and loan funding.
The decision by Judge John McConnell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island says the administration overstepped its legal boundaries in pursuing the funding freeze, and follows a hearing on Feb. 21 where McConnell expressed skepticism over the Department of Justice’s (DoJ) claim that it was within President Donald Trump’s authority to freeze most Federal grant and loan programs while reviewing initiatives that didn’t align with his ideological platform.
“The Executive’s categorical freeze of appropriated and obligated funds fundamentally undermines the distinct constitutional roles of each branch of our government,” wrote McConnell in his decision.
“The interaction of the three co-equal branches of government is an intricate, delicate, and sophisticated balance – but it is crucial to our form of constitutional governance. Here, the Executive put itself above Congress,” the judge said.
In his ruling, McConnell stated that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is barred from “reissuing, adopting, implementing, giving effect to, or reinstating under a different name” any orders to withhold appropriated Federal funds from the 22 Democratic states and the District of Columbia who brought the suit against the Trump administration.
He also instructed OMB to notify agencies of the court’s decision and ensure that all remaining frozen funds are released.
The order also denies a possible request from the Trump administration to stay the injunction pending an appeal.
The funding freeze attempt kicked off in late January with a memo from OMB that directed Federal agencies to halt payments from their grant and programs, throwing governments and organizations dependent on Federal funding into a state of chaos. While the memo was withdrawn the next day, it sparked several lawsuits – including the one overseen by Judge McConnell.
McConnell had first directed OMB in a temporary restraining order (TRO) on Jan. 31 to not “pause, freeze, impede, block, cancel, or terminate” the plaintiff states’ access to Federal awards and obligations. The administration appealed the decision which was later denied, and followed by a new motion filed by the states against the administration early last month, claiming that some of the Federal grant and loan funding remained frozen.
In his decision to grant a preliminary injunction, McConnell noted that the administration had failed to point to “any constitutional or statutory authority that would allow them to impose this type of categorical freeze.”
“The Court is not limiting the Executive’s discretion or micromanaging the administration of federal funds,” wrote McConnell. “The Court is simply holding that the Executive’s discretion to impose its own policy preferences on appropriated funds can be exercised only if it is authorized by the congressionally approved appropriations statutes.”
A key DoJ argument was that the suit had not provided proof of sufficient harm, which McConnell addressed by writing that “it is so obvious that it almost need not be stated that when money is obligated and therefore expected (particularly money that has been spent and reimbursement is sought) and is not paid as promised, harm follows – debt is incurred, debt is unpaid, essential health and safety services stop, and budgets are upended.”
“And when there is no end in sight to the Defendants’ funding freeze, that harm is amplified because those served by the expected but frozen funds have no idea when the promised monies will flow again,” he continued.
Many suits brought against the Trump administration since it entered office in January – of which there are at least 74 – have since come under fire from Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, and Elon Musk, a top White House advisor.
Musk in February called for a “wave of judicial impeachments,” answered by several House Republicans who have said they are drafting articles of impeachment against some judges. Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., has said he is working on an impeachment resolution against McConnell.
“When judges egregiously undermine the democratic will of the people, they must be fired or democracy dies!” Musk wrote in a post to X on Feb. 25.
The OMB funding freeze attempt also sparked outcry from legislators and legal experts who called the move unconstitutional and that the action overstepped the president’s authority to override congressionally passed appropriations, which is considered unlawful under the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (ICA).
Dan Bishop, Trump’s nominee for deputy director of OMB, recently told lawmakers he takes issue with the constitutionality of the ICA and intends to push back against it alongside OMB Director Russel Vought.
