A federal US judge on Thursday blocked an attempt by President Donald Trump’s administration to freeze billions of dollars in congressionally approved funding destined for 22 states and the District of Columbia, concluding that the White House’s directive overstepped its constitutional authority by halting money that Congress had already appropriated..
In an extensive opinion, Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr. of the US District Court for the District of Rhode Island stressed that the US Constitution gives Congress the sole authority to control federal spending. By issuing a blanket pause on agencies’ disbursement of funds to the plaintiff states, he wrote, the executive branch “put itself above Congress” and undermined a foundational principle of US governance.
Judge McConnell concluded that the administration’s approach left vital state services in an “indefinite limbo,” citing extensive evidence from the plaintiff states showing that the freeze threatened health, education, public safety, and infrastructure programs relied on