Attorney General Anne Lopez and a coalition of 22 other attorneys general today won a preliminary injunction against the Trump administration to block its illegal policy that would freeze funding for essential federal agency grants, loans and other financial assistance programs.
Judge John J. McConnell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island granted the preliminary injunction after Attorney General Lopez and the coalition sued the Trump administration to stop the funding freeze. “This federal funding freeze would critically impact programs that thousands of Hawaiʻi’s residents depend on including essential health, welfare and public safety programs,” said Attorney General Lopez. “This lawsuit is one of many steps in our continuing battle to uphold and defend the rule of law and protect the rights of people of Hawaiʻi and its institutions.” “The Department of the Attorney General will continue to work with our state departments and agencies to ensure that this preliminary injunction is complied with and that they receive the federal funds to which they are entitled by law,” added Special Assistant to the Attorney General Dave Day and Solicitor General Kalikoʻonālani Fernandes, who represent the state of Hawaiʻi in this matter. The administration’s funding freeze policy, issued through an array of actions including a January 27 memorandum from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), illegally withheld trillions of dollars in federal funds from states and other entities like nonprofit organizations and community health centers. The policy caused immediate chaos and uncertainty for millions of Americans who rely on state programs that receive these federal funds.
Attorney General Lopez and the coalition sued the administration over the freeze on January 28, and on January 31, the court granted the attorneys generals’ request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) blocking the freeze’s implementation until further order from the court. On February 7, Attorney General Lopez and the coalition filed motions for enforcement and a preliminary injunction to stop the illegal freeze and preserve federal funding that is crucial for families, communities and states. On February 8, the court granted the motion for enforcement, ordering the administration to immediately comply with the TRO and stop freezing federal funds. On February 28, Attorney General Lopez and the coalition filed a second motion for enforcement seeking to stop the Trump administration from freezing hundreds of millions of dollars in grants to the states from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island granted the request by Attorney General Lopez and the coalition for a preliminary injunction, halting the implementation of the administration’s policy. The court concluded that the states had demonstrated a high likelihood of success on their claims that the actions making up the funding freeze policy were unlawful. In today’s order, the Court also required the administration to provide evidence of its compliance in unfreezing FEMA funds by March 14 and to alert all agencies about the court’s order.
Joining Attorney General in the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia. The lawsuit is led by the attorneys general of California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island.
Original source can be found here.