Latest news with #FederalFundingFreeze
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Federal judge will consider further blocking Trump administration from freezing funds
A federal judge will on Friday consider a request to further block President Donald Trump 's administration from freezing trillions of dollars of grants and loans that fund everything from clean energy programs to bridge repairs to emergency shelters. U.S. District Court Judge John McConnell in Rhode Island, who already approved a temporary restraining order on the funding freeze, is hearing a request for a permanent injunction from nearly two dozen Democrat states. If approved, it would be the first order since the Trump administration announced a sweeping pause on federal aid, stirring up a wave of confusion and anxiety across the United States. 'The confusion caused by the Federal Funding Freeze itself constitutes immediate harm by impeding planning, wasting resources to mitigate potential impacts, and unnecessarily stopping work,' the states wrote. 'Without the timely disbursement of this funding, the Plaintiff States will be unable to provide these essential services for residents, pay public employees, satisfy obligations, and carry on the important business of government.' See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. A second lawsuit over the funding freeze by groups representing thousands of nonprofits and small businesses is being heard by U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan in Washington, D.C. AliKhan is also considering a request to issue a preliminary injunction. In their court documents in the Rhode Island case, the states listed a litany of programs that are still waiting for federal funds or some clarity on whether the money is going to be delivered. The funding impacted includes billions of dollars that would fund rooftop solar power in low-income neighborhoods; billions of dollars that subsidize low- and moderate-income households' purchase and installation of electric heat pump water heaters; billions of dollars for greenhouse gas reduction programs; and hundreds of millions of dollars for bridge projects, including $220 million in federal grant funding for the replacement of Rhode Island's Washington Bridge, a critical span that nearly 100,000 vehicles each day. Last month, the White House said it would temporarily halt federal funding to ensure that the payments complied with Trump's orders barring diversity programs. The Republican president wants to increase fossil fuel production, remove protections for transgender people and end diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. The administration rescinded the memo outlining its planned funding freeze, but many state governments, universities and nonprofits have argued federal agencies continue to block funding for a range of programs. Earlier this month, McConnell, who is based in Rhode Island and was nominated by President Barack Obama, ordered the Trump administration to unfreeze federal spending. Federal money remained tied up even after his Jan. 31 order blocking a planned halt on federal spending, he found. 'These pauses in funding violate the plain text of the (temporary restraining order),' McConnell wrote. '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.' The government argues its move to freeze funds is legal and says the request for a preliminary injunction is moot since the memo from the Office of Management and Budget has been rescinded. They also argue the states are exaggerating the impact of the freeze. 'Plaintiffs here seek to portray the Executive Branch's actions in extreme terms, as imposing an indefinite pause on all federal funding,' the administration wrote. 'In reality, this case is about something far more modest — the Executive's ability to instruct agencies to temporarily pause discrete categories of funding, to the extent doing so is consistent with their underlying statutory authorities, to ensure that such funding aligns with a new Administration's priorities.' ___
The Independent
21-02-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Federal judge will consider further blocking Trump administration from freezing funds
A federal judge will on Friday consider a request to further block President Donald Trump 's administration from freezing trillions of dollars of grants and loans that fund everything from clean energy programs to bridge repairs to emergency shelters. U.S. District Court Judge John McConnell in Rhode Island, who already approved a temporary restraining order on the funding freeze, is hearing a request for a permanent injunction from nearly two dozen Democrat states. If approved, it would be the first order since the Trump administration announced a sweeping pause on federal aid, stirring up a wave of confusion and anxiety across the United States. 'The confusion caused by the Federal Funding Freeze itself constitutes immediate harm by impeding planning, wasting resources to mitigate potential impacts, and unnecessarily stopping work,' the states wrote. 'Without the timely disbursement of this funding, the Plaintiff States will be unable to provide these essential services for residents, pay public employees, satisfy obligations, and carry on the important business of government.' A second lawsuit over the funding freeze by groups representing thousands of nonprofits and small businesses is being heard by U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan in Washington, D.C. AliKhan is also considering a request to issue a preliminary injunction. In their court documents in the Rhode Island case, the states listed a litany of programs that are still waiting for federal funds or some clarity on whether the money is going to be delivered. The funding impacted includes billions of dollars that would fund rooftop solar power in low-income neighborhoods; billions of dollars that subsidize low- and moderate-income households' purchase and installation of electric heat pump water heaters; billions of dollars for greenhouse gas reduction programs; and hundreds of millions of dollars for bridge projects, including $220 million in federal grant funding for the replacement of Rhode Island's Washington Bridge, a critical span that nearly 100,000 vehicles each day. Last month, the White House said it would temporarily halt federal funding to ensure that the payments complied with Trump's orders barring diversity programs. The Republican president wants to increase fossil fuel production, remove protections for transgender people and end diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. The administration rescinded the memo outlining its planned funding freeze, but many state governments, universities and nonprofits have argued federal agencies continue to block funding for a range of programs. Earlier this month, McConnell, who is based in Rhode Island and was nominated by President Barack Obama, ordered the Trump administration to unfreeze federal spending. Federal money remained tied up even after his Jan. 31 order blocking a planned halt on federal spending, he found. 'These pauses in funding violate the plain text of the (temporary restraining order),' McConnell wrote. '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.' The government argues its move to freeze funds is legal and says the request for a preliminary injunction is moot since the memo from the Office of Management and Budget has been rescinded. They also argue the states are exaggerating the impact of the freeze. 'Plaintiffs here seek to portray the Executive Branch's actions in extreme terms, as imposing an indefinite pause on all federal funding,' the administration wrote. 'In reality, this case is about something far more modest — the Executive's ability to instruct agencies to temporarily pause discrete categories of funding, to the extent doing so is consistent with their underlying statutory authorities, to ensure that such funding aligns with a new Administration's priorities.'
Associated Press
21-02-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Federal judge will consider further blocking Trump administration from freezing funds
A federal judge will on Friday consider a request to further block President Donald Trump 's administration from freezing trillions of dollars of grants and loans that fund everything from clean energy programs to bridge repairs to emergency shelters. U.S. District Court Judge John McConnell in Rhode Island, who already approved a temporary restraining order on the funding freeze, is hearing a request for a permanent injunction from nearly two dozen Democrat states. If approved, it would be the first order since the Trump administration announced a sweeping pause on federal aid, stirring up a wave of confusion and anxiety across the United States. 'The confusion caused by the Federal Funding Freeze itself constitutes immediate harm by impeding planning, wasting resources to mitigate potential impacts, and unnecessarily stopping work,' the states wrote. 'Without the timely disbursement of this funding, the Plaintiff States will be unable to provide these essential services for residents, pay public employees, satisfy obligations, and carry on the important business of government.' A second lawsuit over the funding freeze by groups representing thousands of nonprofits and small businesses is being heard by U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan in Washington, D.C. AliKhan is also considering a request to issue a preliminary injunction. In their court documents in the Rhode Island case, the states listed a litany of programs that are still waiting for federal funds or some clarity on whether the money is going to be delivered. The funding impacted includes billions of dollars that would fund rooftop solar power in low-income neighborhoods; billions of dollars that subsidize low- and moderate-income households' purchase and installation of electric heat pump water heaters; billions of dollars for greenhouse gas reduction programs; and hundreds of millions of dollars for bridge projects, including $220 million in federal grant funding for the replacement of Rhode Island's Washington Bridge, a critical span that nearly 100,000 vehicles each day. Last month, the White House said it would temporarily halt federal funding to ensure that the payments complied with Trump's orders barring diversity programs. The Republican president wants to increase fossil fuel production, remove protections for transgender people and end diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. The administration rescinded the memo outlining its planned funding freeze, but many state governments, universities and nonprofits have argued federal agencies continue to block funding for a range of programs. Earlier this month, McConnell, who is based in Rhode Island and was nominated by President Barack Obama, ordered the Trump administration to unfreeze federal spending. Federal money remained tied up even after his Jan. 31 order blocking a planned halt on federal spending, he found. 'These pauses in funding violate the plain text of the (temporary restraining order),' McConnell wrote. '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.' The government argues its move to freeze funds is legal and says the request for a preliminary injunction is moot since the memo from the Office of Management and Budget has been rescinded. They also argue the states are exaggerating the impact of the freeze. 'Plaintiffs here seek to portray the Executive Branch's actions in extreme terms, as imposing an indefinite pause on all federal funding,' the administration wrote. 'In reality, this case is about something far more modest — the Executive's ability to instruct agencies to temporarily pause discrete categories of funding, to the extent doing so is consistent with their underlying statutory authorities, to ensure that such funding aligns with a new Administration's priorities.'
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Gov. Beshear says Kentucky is due over $7M in frozen federal funds, joins nationwide lawsuit
KENTUCKY (FOX 56) — Gov. Andy Beshear has joined 22 states in a lawsuit against the federal government demanding a solution to the federal funding freeze. In a Team Kentucky update on Thursday afternoon, Beshear announced his name had been added to the ongoing litigation. Trump administration halts funding freeze memo What Trump's funding freeze could mean for universities, nonprofits and more The lawsuit claims that congressionally approved federal aid was unconstitutionally withheld through the freeze. The funding freeze began with a Jan. 20 executive order in which President Donald Trump directed all federal agencies to impose a 'categorical, immediate, and indefinite pause on federal funds' until the programs could be reviewed to determine if the spending aligned with Trump's executive orders on issues such as climate change and diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Following the executive order, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a directive implementing an 'across-the-board federal funding freeze extending to nearly all federal funding streams nationwide.' The American people elected Donald J. Trump to be President of the United States andgave him a mandate to increase the impact of every federal taxpayer dollar. In Fiscal Year 2024,of the nearly $10 trillion that the Federal Government spent, more than $3 trillion was Federalfinancial assistance, such as grants and loans. Career and political appointees in the ExecutiveBranch have a duty to align Federal spending and action with the will of the American people asexpressed through Presidential priorities. Financial assistance should be dedicated to advancingAdministration priorities, focusing taxpayer dollars to advance a stronger and safer America,eliminating the financial burden of inflation for citizens, unleashing American energy andmanufacturing, ending 'wokeness' and the weaponization of government, promoting efficiencyin government, and Making America Healthy Again. The use of Federal resources to advanceMarxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste oftaxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve Matthew J. Vaeth, Acting Director, Office of Management and Budget The OMB's directive was rescinded following the lawsuit's filing, per court documents. However, according to the lawsuit, the finding freeze's effects lingered even after the memo was rescinded. 'Defendants continued to implement the Federal Funding Freeze across myriad federal funding programs, as demonstrated through their repeated actions and communications, resulting in substantial disruptions across state agencies—both before and after OMB purported to rescind its directive. These disruptions only stopped (and even then, only partially) following a temporary restraining order from this Court,' the lawsuit reads. Gov. Beshear says Kentucky is due over $7M in frozen federal funds, joins nationwide lawsuit LCA fifth graders donate profits from self-started small businesses to Make-A-Wish Foundation Rockcastle County Schools use a vital resource to keep students healthy thanks to partnership The lawsuit claims the freeze caused substantial confusion and resulted in 'immediate and devastating harm to Plaintiff States and their residents.' 'We've already seen the harms that this illegal freeze can cause,' Beshear said. The Federal Funding Freeze purports to allow federal agencies to rescind hundreds of millions of dollars they have committed to pay and on which Plaintiff States' budgets rely—monies that are necessary for the Plaintiff States to ensure that their residents have access to childcare, quality healthcare, a clean and safe environment, the protections of law enforcement, the benefit of safe roads, access to workforce development, and assistance in the aftermath of natural disasters, among many other key services Funding Freeze Amended Complaint filed on Feb. 13 Beshear has been outspoken on the freeze since the executive order's start, saying on X, 'I'm concerned about the federal 'freeze' of crucial funds that our nation's families depend on. Former Gov. Bevin tried this too. It wasn't legal then, and it isn't now.' He said that for most of the day, Kentuckians weren't able to access the Medicaid system. Kentucky wasn't alone; Beshear said on Thursday that several states experienced similar issues. 'Without Medicaid, our rural hospitals would shut down, and so many healthcare workers would lose their jobs,' Beshear affirmed. Furthermore, he noticed changes in the Appalachian Regional Commission account, which goes toward creating jobs and providing health care access and infrastructure in Appalachia. Read more of the latest news in politics 'We currently can't get more than $6 million in funds to repair abandoned mine lands where they present a danger to our people,' Beshear said. He's compared the freeze to when former Gov. Matt Bevin attempted to cut the amount of funding universities were receiving that had already been approved and budgeted for. When Beshear served as the attorney general, he filed a lawsuit claiming the cuts were unlawful and won. 'For us as a state, this is important first because we take our constitution and the U.S. constitution seriously, but also, many of these programs operate on reimbursements,' Beshear said. According to Beshear, Kentucky is due over $7 million in federal reimbursements at this time. 'That's what's frozen right now,' he said. He affirmed that although the overall freeze has been blocked by a federal judge, the money still isn't flowing. Read more of the latest Kentucky news 'We're going to be aggressive; this is money that the people of Kentucky are owed,' Beshear said. The lawsuit demands 'declaratory and injunctive relief to put an end to the Federal Funding Freeze.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Judge directs Trump administration to comply with order to unfreeze federal grants
A federal judge in Rhode Island on Monday ordered the Trump administration to comply with his order to unfreeze federal grants, after attorneys general for several Democratic states claimed the directive was not being fulfilled. In a short order, U.S. District Judge John McConnell directed the Trump administration to 'immediately' end any federal funding pause until he decides whether to indefinitely block the freeze while litigation is ongoing. The judge said specifically that the withheld funds that must be restored include those appropriated under two laws championed by former President Biden — the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Improvement and Jobs Act — and those intended for 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. In a memo last month, the Office of Management and Budget directed federal agencies to pause the disbursement of grants while the administration assessed its spending to assure it aligned with Trump's agenda, sparking legal challenges and widespread confusion. Though the memo was later withdrawn, McConnell said the reversal was 'in name only' after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt cautioned on social media that the administration's rescission only referred to the memo itself, not the entire freeze. The rescission 'may have been issued simply to defeat the jurisdiction of the courts. The substantive effect of the directive carries on,' McConnell wrote in his previous order. McConnell's new order came after Democratic attorneys general in 22 states and Washington, D.C., who challenged the freeze said the Trump administration was not complying with the judge's initial command. The states said the government failed to resume disbursing federal funds in multiple respects, specifically pointing to programs funded by the two Biden-backed laws and NIH's still-suspended funding. 'While it is imaginable that a certain amount of machinery would need to be re-tooled in order to undo the breadth of the Federal Funding Freeze, there is no world in which these scattershot outages, which as of this writing impact billions of dollars in federal funding across the Plaintiff States, can constitute compliance with this Court's Order,' the attorneys general wrote. The government opposed the states' motion to force its abidance, writing in court filings that it had made 'good-faith, diligent efforts' to comply. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
