Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell released the following statement after a federal judge in Rhode Island granted a motion filed by her office and a coalition of 22 other attorneys general to halt the implementation of a new Trump administration policy that would block federal agency grants, loans, and other financial assistance programs:
“Today’s court decision reaffirms that the President cannot unilaterally take away federal funding, especially resources that our kids, seniors and economy rely on. His reckless actions unleashed chaos and confusion yet demonstrated the enormous power of attorneys general to fight back,” said AG Campbell. “My office will keep fighting to protect Massachusetts residents from these egregious and unlawful abuses of power.”
The Court’s temporary restraining order extends beyond the six-day pause granted by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on January 28 in response to a lawsuit brought by nonprofit groups that receive federal funds. This order will remain in effect until the District Court rules on the coalition’s forthcoming request for a further injunction against the federal funding freeze.
The Court agreed with the states that the President overstepped his authority by overriding policy choices made by Congress and has violated his obligation to execute the laws passed by Congress by refusing to spend the money Congress has appropriated. Judge McConnell, in his order, stated, “Congress has not given the Executive limitless power to broadly and indefinitely pause all funds that it has expressly directed to specific recipients and purposes and therefore the Executive’s actions violate the separation of powers.”
The proposed policy, issued by the President’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on January 27, would put an indefinite pause on the majority of federal assistance, jeopardizing funds for health care, education, law enforcement, disaster relief, infrastructure, and more. On January 28, AG Campbell and attorneys general from 22 other states sued to immediately stop the enforcement of the OMB policy and preserve trillions of dollars in essential funding.
While the administration rescinded the memorandum on January 28, subsequent statements by the White House indicated the federal funding freeze was still in place. Pursuant to the freeze, states and organizations that receive federal funding continued to experience major disruptions. Following OMB’s issuance of the policy, Medicaid funds in multiple states were frozen. Head Start programs across the country were cut off from funds, leading some childcare centers to close. Despite the rescission of the memo and the stay ordered by the District Court for the District of Columbia, disruptions to critical funds are continuing across the country.
The lawsuit was led by the attorneys general of Massachusetts, New York, California, Illinois, New Jersey and Rhode Island. Joining the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.
Original source can be found here.