Judge Escalates to Injunction to Release Most Federal Funding

Federal District Court Judge Loren L. AliKhan issued a preliminary injunction in place of a previously issued temporary restraining order to block Donald Trump’s executive order that aims to freeze most federal funding of grants, loans and other funding flows.

She wrote, “In the simplest terms, the freeze was ill-conceived from the beginning. 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.”

Earlier this month before AliKhan extended her initial TRO, the Department of Justice asserted she has no authority to intervene because a memo rescinding the freeze was issued by the Office of Management and Budget. Judge AliKhan rejected that assertion on grounds that Trump appears to be moving ahead with the freeze in defiance of two previous court orders to block his EO. Multiple non-profit organizations provided affidavits to that effect.

A similar restraining order has been issued by a judge in Rhode Island.

This was the second of three separate courtroom losses for the new regime in 90 minutes.

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