Judge indefinitely pauses Trump spending freeze

Energy & Environment

The Big Story

Judge indefinitely pauses Trump spending freeze

A federal judge on Tuesday indefinitely blocked the Trump administration’s freeze of federal funding, dealing a stark blow to President Trump’s sweeping efforts to realign government spending with his agenda.

U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan enjoined the government from “implementing, giving effect to, or reinstating under a different name” the White House budget office’s directive to freeze federal assistance while the court reviews the spending.

A number of grants funding environmentally focused projects have remained frozen.

“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.”

AliKhan, who was nominated by former President Biden, previously blocked the current administration from keeping disbursements paused while she weighed whether to issue a preliminary injunction.

On Tuesday, she said the plaintiffs had “more than met their burden” for further relief.

The Justice Department (DOJ), however, said the case is moot because the memo was rescinded.

“A general interest in carrying out a policy is not enough to keep a case alive,” DOJ lawyer Daniel Schwei said at the hearing.

The DOJ has also argued the administration still plans to freeze some funds in accordance with Trump’s executive orders.

Read more from our colleague Ella Lee at TheHill.com.

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