Judge Says Trump Administration Is Violating a Court Order, Directs It to 'Immediately' Unfreeze Federal Funds

A federal judge determined on Monday that the Trump administration is violating a court order, and directing the White House to "immediately" end the freeze on federal funds.

U.S. District Judge John McConnell from Rhode Island directed in a short order to unfreeze the federal funds right away until he decides whether to indefinitely block the freeze while litigation is ongoing.

"The states have presented evidence in this motion that the defendants in some cases have continued to improperly freeze federal funds and refused to resume disbursement of appropriated federal funds," McConnell wrote in his decision.

The judge also determined that the funds that must be restored, include those appropriated under the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Improvement and Jobs Act, two laws championed by President Biden, as well as institutes and other agencies like the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

"The broad categorical and sweeping freeze of federal funds is, as the Court found, likely unconstitutional and has caused and continues to cause irreparable harm to a vast portion of this country," McConnell wrote.

McConnell's recent decision comes after he ordered the administration in late-January to keep taxpayer dollars flowing to 22 Democratic-leaning states for all congressionally approved government programs. That decision was a temporary but significant victory for the Democratic attorneys general from those states and the District of Columbia.

In that decision, the Rhode Island judge ordered the administration not to "pause, freeze, impede, block, cancel, or terminate" taxpayer money already allocated by Congress.

But Rhode Island is not the only state where Trump's funding freeze has been met with legal challenges. In fact, in early Feb., another judge of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia also added to the pushback by temporarily blocking the administration's decision.

The Trump administration's "actions in this case potentially run roughshod over a 'bulwark of the Constitution' by interfering with Congress's appropriation of federal funds," Judge Loren L. AliKhan wrote in a 30-page opinion, adding "Because the funding freeze threatens the lifeline that keeps countless organizations operational, plaintiffs have met their burden of showing irreparable harm."

Administration officials said the decision was necessary to ensure that spending complies with Trump's blitz of executive orders. Among many other things, the Republican president wants to increase fossil fuel production, remove protections for transgender people and end diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

However, the decision, coupled with a vaguely worded memo and incomplete answers from the White House, caused chaos and confusion across Washington and the rest of the country. Less than 48 hours after the initial announcement, Trump backtracked from the freeze, but his press secretary, Karoline Leavitt said they just rescinded the memo, and that the federal funding freeze would continue.