Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced a temporary victory in a lawsuit against President Donald Trump's administration regarding the freezing of federal grants and loans. A federal judge in Rhode Island issued a temporary restraining order preventing the Trump administration from imposing a freeze on federal funding. This order remains effective until the court decides on a motion for preliminary injunction.
Attorney General Mayes expressed her satisfaction with the ruling, stating, "I'm proud to be one step closer to permanently protecting funding for Arizona police officers, our drug cartel task forces, and critical public safety infrastructure." She emphasized that she opposes waste and fraud but will not allow constitutional violations regarding state funding.
The coalition's lawsuit claims that the Trump administration’s memo violates the U.S. Constitution by imposing new conditions on already awarded funds. Despite rescinding the memo before an initial hearing, public statements indicated that the freeze was still active. The states argued this move aimed to avoid legal action, but Judge John J. McConnell found it insufficient and ordered parties to submit a proposed order for review.
Judge McConnell supported the states' stance that President Trump exceeded his authority by overriding congressional policy decisions and failing to execute laws passed by Congress. He 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."
The frozen funds impact various programs across Arizona and other states, including WIC, Head Start, LIHEAP, Medicare enrollment assistance, school meals for low-income students, support for homeless veterans, domestic violence victim aid programs, and refugee support services.
The lawsuit is backed by 22 other states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island—where the decision was made—Vermont Washington Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.
A copy of the court's decision is available online.