Court Rules Administration Is Disobeying an Order on Freeze

Federal judge says his previous ruling seemed clear
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 10, 2025 4:28 PM CST
Court Again Tells Trump to Stop Funding Freeze
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, along with Sen. Martin Heinrich, speaks to reporters following President Trump's action freezing virtually all federal grants and loans at the Capitol on Jan. 29.   (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

A judge ordered the Trump administration on Monday to "immediately restore frozen funding," saying his previous directive to halt suspension of the distribution of grants and aid has been ignored despite its "clear and unambiguous" language. "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," US District Judge John McConnell wrote. He also told the administration to restore any money that had been frozen, the Rhode Island Current reports.

McConnell's Jan. 31 order came at the request of 23 Democratic attorneys general. On Friday, they filed an emergency motion saying recipients still were not receiving their money. A Justice Department filing argued that the administration didn't think his order applied to all frozen funding and that some of the funding is being reviewed to ensure it's "appropriate," per NBC News. The Rhode Island judge said he saw no such latitude in his order. Another federal judge blocked a broader Trump freeze last week, per the Washington Post, saying the administration had provided offered "no rational explanation" for the sudden, abrupt suspension of funding.

Monday's ruling was the first time a judge has said that the Trump administration is disobeying a judicial order, per the New York Times. McConnell said the president's side had cited no legal authority for Trump's action, and the judge wrote that he doesn't know of any law that would allow it. The executive would have to ask Congress, the ruling said, "not act unilaterally." (Trump allies, including Vice President JD Vance, argue that the courts have no right to check the president.)

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