Judge Blocks Trump’s Plan to Freeze Federal Aid
By Brett Rowland | The Center Square
(Worthy News) – A federal judge on Tuesday blocked President Donald Trump’s plan to freeze federal aid while reviewing the spending to make sure it complies with his vision for the federal government.
U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan stopped the government from “implementing, giving effect to, or reinstating under a different name” the White House budget office’s directive to freeze federal assistance while reviewing the spending.
“In the simplest terms, the freeze was ill-conceived from the beginning. Defendants either wanted to pause up to $3 trillion in federal spending practically overnight, or they expected each federal agency to review every single one of its grants, loans, and funds for compliance in less than twenty-four hours,” she wrote in a 39-page order. “The breadth of that command is almost unfathomable.”
A group of nonprofits, including the National Council of Nonprofit, challenged the Office of Management and Budget’s directive in January. The White House rescinded the memo that sparked the lawsuit, but the groups argued that the administration wants move ahead with the same policy as part of its efforts to reshape the federal government.
The judge also noted that the confusion sparked by the memo hasn’t disappeared.
“The court reminds Defendants that the injunctive relief currently in place was issued to temporarily stave off imminent, irreparable harm,” she wrote. “Facts have certainly evolved since then … but Defendants cannot pretend that the nationwide chaos and paralysis from two weeks ago is some distant memory with no bearing on this case.”
AliKhan said the plaintiffs had “more than met their burden” for relief.
“Many organizations had to resort to desperate measures just to stay operational,” the judge wrote. “The pause placed critical programs for children, the elderly, and everyone in between in serious jeopardy. Because the public’s interest in not having trillions of dollars arbitrarily frozen cannot be overstated, Plaintiffs have more than met their burden here.”
The Justice Department said the case was moot after the memo was rescinded.
The two-page memo at the center of the matter stated that to the “extent permissible under applicable law, Federal agencies must temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance, and other relevant agency activities that may be implicated by the executive orders, including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal.”
The White House has defended the freeze and stated it does not qualify under the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, which limits presidents’ authority when withholding or delaying congressionally approved funds, and noted that the pause is a temporary measure to ensure taxpayer dollars align with presidential priorities, as previously reported by The Center Square.
States, universities, nonprofits and lawmakers were left stunned after the OMB memo paused federal grants, loans and other financial assistance-programs, until the new administration reviews them. The memo noted that voters gave President Donald Trump “a mandate to increase the impact of every federal taxpayer dollar.”
The judge said some damage had already been done.
“Defendants blithely suggest that if they were to revive or reissue the OMB Pause Memorandum at some future point in time, Plaintiffs could simply ‘file another motion for preliminary relief.’ she wrote. “This proposal completely disregards the mountain of evidence Plaintiffs presented showing that even the threat of a funding freeze was enough to send countless organizations into complete disarray. Hours before the original pause was scheduled to start, organizations were already laying off staff or shuttering programs.”