The prospect of a federal funding freeze was put on ice by a federal judge in Rhode Island Friday afternoon.
“The states have put forth sufficient evidence at this stage that they will likely suffer severe and irreparable harm if the Court denies their request to enjoin enforcement of the funding pause,” Chief Judge John McConnell Jr. wrote in the
13-page order. “And it is more than monetary harm that is at stake here. As Justice Anthony Kennedy reminds us, ‘Liberty is always at stake when one or more of the branches seek to transgress the separation of powers.’ ”
McConnell’s order blocks President Donald Trump and 26 Cabinet members named in the lawsuit from freezing federal funds until “further order of this court,” calling for a preliminary hearing to weigh the request for a longer-term ban. A hearing had not been scheduled as of Friday afternoon.
R.I. Attorney General Peter F. Neronha, one of 23 Democratic attorneys general who filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island applauded McConnell’s decision in a statement Friday.
“I am grateful for Judge McConnell’s careful consideration of this matter and for seeing the irreparable harm that this directive would cause, and frankly has already caused, Americans across the country,” Neronha said. “This directive targets public safety, health care, veterans’ services, childcare, disaster relief, and countless other cornerstones of American life. Make no mistake: this federal funding pause was implemented to inspire fear and chaos, and it was successful in that respect. These tactics are intended to wear us down, but with each legal victory, we reaffirm that these significant and unlawful disruptions won’t be tolerated, and will certainly be met with swift and immediate action now and in the future.”
McConnell already
verbally indicated during a hearing Wednesday that he was inclined to side with the AGs, who sought the temporary restraining order as a short-term fix in the wake of the
White House budget memo. The virtual hearing was held two hours after the U.S. Office of Management and Budget rescinded its Jan. 27 memo, alongside a
confusing social media post by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt noting that the intent was still to freeze funds.
The
initial AGs complaint centered on the infamous budget memo, citing the “irreparable harm” that a funding freeze would cause to state governments and agencies, and arguing that the move violates the U.S. Constitution.
The AGs’ revised request for a temporary restraining order,
submitted to the court Thursday morning, focuses on the federal administration’s intent to pause funds, memo or not.
Daniel Schwei, special counsel to the U.S. Department of Justice, representing Trump and other federal cabinet heads named in the suit, sought to have the case tossed.
“Plaintiffs cannot transform their lawsuit into a vehicle to seek relief against other actions, such as the President’s Executive Orders or agencies’ ongoing implementation of those Orders,” Schwei wrote in a
13-page response filed Thursday. “The President’s Executive Orders are not subject to direct challenge; the Supreme Court has made clear that courts have “no jurisdiction . . . to enjoin the President in the performance of his official duties.”
Anticipating that McConnell may grant a temporary restraining order regardless, Schwei sought to limit the scope of the block, arguing it should not apply to the president himself nor to executive orders, among other limits.
McConnell’s Friday order, however, aligns almost exactly with what the AGs proposed. One difference: The temporary restraining order lasts until further court order; the AGs had asked for a 14-day block, with a potential 14-day extension.
A federal judge in Washington, D.C., already issued a temporary administrative stay Tuesday night in response to a separate lawsuit filed by a group of nonprofit, business and health care groups, preventing the Trump administration from freezing federal grants and aid until at
least Feb. 3.
Nancy Lavin is a senior staff writer for the
Rhode Island Current.
