WASHINGTON — A federal judge found Monday that the Trump administration hasn’t fully followed his order to unfreeze federal spending and told the White House to release all the money.
U.S. District Court Judge John McConnell found there’s evidence that some federal grants and loans are still not going out to the recipients and ordered that the cash be released.
McConnell ordered a halt to Trump administration plans for a sweeping freeze of federal funding in late January. The Republican administration has said the pause was necessary to ensure federal spending fits with the president’s agenda.
The judge said his temporary restraining order also blocks the administration from making billions of dollars in cuts to the National Institutes of Health that were announced Friday.
“These pauses in funding violate the plain text of the (temporary restraining order),” he 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 White House did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. The administration has said in court documents that it was making good-faith efforts to comply with the judge’s ruling.
The Justice Department argued that the judge’s ruling didn’t apply to other spending pauses, including funds that were part of President Joe Biden’s signature climate, health care and tax package. McConnell disagreed.
The order comes in a lawsuit filed by nearly two dozen states.
A different federal judge in Washington has issued a temporary restraining order against the funding freeze plan and since expressed concern that nonprofit groups weren’t getting their funding.
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Associated Press writer Chris Megerian contributed to this story.