Federal Judge Slams Trump’s “Ill-Conceived” Funding Freeze, Extends Block
A federal judge has once again halted the Trump administration’s attempt to freeze trillions of dollars in congressionally approved funds, dealing another blow to the former president’s aggressive budget-cutting agenda.
Judge Loren AliKhan ruled on Tuesday that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) could not unilaterally suspend federal funds that had already been appropriated by Congress. Her decision sided with a coalition of nonprofit organizations that sued the government over the freeze, warning that the consequences of Trump’s interference could be “economically catastrophic” and even “fatal” for many affected programs.
Judge Calls Trump’s Budget Freeze “Unfathomable”
In her ruling, AliKhan strongly criticized the administration’s rushed and sweeping budget suspension, arguing that it was never a practical or legally sound initiative.
“In the simplest terms, the freeze was ill-conceived from the beginning,” AliKhan wrote. “Defendants either wanted to pause up to $3 trillion in federal spending practically overnight, or they expected each federal agency to review every single one of its grants, loans, and funds for compliance in less than twenty-four hours. The breadth of that command is almost unfathomable.”
Her decision to extend the block on the freeze reinforces previous court actions against Trump’s spending cuts. The lawsuit was filed by major nonprofit organizations, including the National Council of Nonprofits, the American Public Health Association, Main Street Alliance, and SAGE. They argued that OMB lacked the authority to halt spending that had already been approved by Congress and allocated to thousands of federal programs.
Trump’s Order Targeted “Woke” Programs and Public Assistance
According to an OMB memo, the Trump administration’s freeze aimed to prevent federal agencies from funding initiatives that the former president deemed politically unfavorable. The order required agencies to prove—within mere hours—that their programs did not support environmental justice, abortion rights, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, gender-related programs, or services for undocumented immigrants.
Any federal agency that failed to provide immediate justification faced an immediate suspension of funds. The freeze affected approximately 2,600 government accounts and put tens of billions of dollars in limbo. Programs at risk included infrastructure projects, housing assistance, disaster relief, educational funding, opioid prevention, rural hospital grants, HIV/AIDS treatment, and even suicide prevention hotlines.
Judge Cites Constitutional Violations in Ruling
AliKhan had previously issued a temporary restraining order on the freeze but ruled that the nonprofit groups had strong legal standing, arguing that Trump’s move may have violated constitutional checks and balances.
“The scope of power OMB seeks to claim is ‘breathtaking,’ and its ramifications are massive,” AliKhan wrote. “Because there is no clear statutory hook for this broad assertion of power, plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of this claim.”
She also referenced a “mountain of evidence” showing that even the mere threat of a budget freeze had already disrupted nonprofit organizations and federal agencies nationwide. Many groups were thrown into uncertainty, unsure whether they would be able to continue providing essential services.
Furthermore, AliKhan dismissed the Trump administration’s justification for the sudden freeze, writing that the government failed to provide a “reasonable explanation for why they needed to freeze all federal financial assistance in less than a day to ‘safeguard valuable taxpayer resources.’”
While Trump’s officials were able to shut down funding streams with relative ease, the judge noted that reversing the damage and restoring cash flow has proven to be far more complicated.
With the funding freeze now blocked indefinitely, federal agencies and nonprofit organizations will continue receiving the support they were originally promised—at least for now.
0 Comments