Judge continues to block Trump administration’s freeze on federal assistance
Washington – A federal judge continued to block the Office of Management and Budget on Tuesday from freezing federal aid, another blow to the Trump administration’s continued efforts to shrink federal spending.
Judge Loren Alikhan of the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia Being ruled A group of nonprofits found that they could successfully challenge all federal grants, loans and other federal aid programs. The judge found that the nonprofit proved that “frozen funds would be economically disastrous and in some cases fatal – their members” and agreed to approve them when the case was broadcast. ask.
Alikhan has previously issued a temporary restraining order to prevent the Trump administration from freezing federal aid, while she considered nonprofits’ request for ban relief. The judge held a hearing on his motion last week.
The nonprofit argues that the Trump administration has surpassed its power by ordering a nationwide freeze, saying it is based on their exercise of First Amendment speech and association rights, threatening federal aid. Alikhan agreed in his decision to decide that the government “may be crossing the constitutional line.”
“The OMB seeks to claim the scope of power is ‘stunning’ and the consequences are enormous,” the judge wrote. “Because there are no clear statutory obstacles in this broad claim, the plaintiff will likely be in this claim. Successful under the advantages.”
Alikhan said nonprofits showed “a lot of evidence” that “even the threat of fund freezing is enough to completely confuse countless organizations.”
OMB Release memo Instructed federal agencies to temporarily suspend all activities related to federal financial aid on January 27. The directive promptly filed two lawsuits — a group of nonprofits filed in the federal district court in Washington, D.C.; the second from a Democratic-led country brought to Rhode Island.
But two days after OMB released the memo, Abolished. Shortly after the memo went back, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced on social media that the new directive was not to revoke federal funding freezes, but to relax the OMB’s January 27 memo.
While the government argues that the White House directive to suspend OMB grants has been cancelled and should not be widely considered,” Alikhan wrote in her decision: “The agency still implemented the original memorandum in writing, which is “Head Start” The plan provides funds for small businesses and funds are frozen.
“The defendants still cannot make a reasonable explanation for why all federal financial aid needs to be frozen in less than a day to ‘protect valuable taxpayer resources’,” Alikhan added.
