‘Sweeping and illegal policy’: Appeals court rejects Donald Trump’s bid to freeze federal funds
A federal appeals court has rejected the US President Donald Trump’s administration’s bid to overturn a lower court ruling that blocked the president from freezing billions in federal funding, grants, and loans, reports ABC News.
The decision was delivered by the 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals and coincided with President Trump’s statement to ABC in which he said he would “always abide by the courts.”
The three-judge panel, all nominated by Democratic presidents, issued a two-page order denying the administration’s request for an immediate administrative stay. They noted that the department of justice failed to present supporting evidence for its request or demonstrate any harm caused by the lower court’s ruling.
“This Circuit has not addressed whether or when an administrative stay of the sort being requested here may be issued, and there is well-recognized uncertainty as to what standards guide the decision to issue one or not,” the judges wrote in the legal document.
Legal battle over
The dispute began when the Trump administration attempted to freeze funding through a directive from the Office of Management and Budget, which was later rescinded.
US district judge John McConnell of Rhode Island ruled that the attempt likely violated the Constitution. On Monday, he issued a second order, accusing the administration of continuing to block funding despite his initial ruling.
DOJ lawyers argued that the ruling improperly restricted presidential authority. “This appeal arises from an extraordinary and unprecedented assertion of power by a single district court judge to superintend and control the Executive Branch’s spending of federal funds, in clear violation of the Constitution’s separation of powers,” they were quoted as saying according to ABC News.
The administration argues that the ruling makes it too difficult for federal agencies to manage funding, calling it “self-evidently unworkable.”
States push back
Attorneys general from 23 states strongly oppose the appeal, arguing that the funding freeze would severely impact millions of Americans who rely on federal assistance. They emphasised that the freeze affects crucial sectors, including healthcare, education, and infrastructure.
“This case challenges defendants’ implementation of a policy imposing across-the-board blanket freezes on payments to all recipients of federal funding associated with nearly all federal programs across the Nation, ranging from healthcare funding to education funding to critical energy and infrastructure grants,” they argued in the lawsuit.
They also warned that lifting the lower court’s order would allow the administration to resume its “sweeping and illegal policy,” harming states and the many recipients of federal funding within their jurisdictions.
The court will review the request for a stay pending appeal later this week, having already rejected the administration’s bid for an immediate pause. This marks the first time a federal appeals court has ruled on a challenge by the Trump administration.
