A federal judge in Rhode Island has ordered the Trump administration to immediately unfreeze federal grants after state attorneys general from several Democratic states said the administration wasn’t following the judge’s previous order.
U.S. District Judge John McConnell’s ruling directs the Trump administration to end the freeze on any withheld federal funds “immediately” until he decides if he will block the freeze completely during the ongoing legal case.
The judge specifically mentioned that the grants being held back must be released. These include funds under laws pushed by President Biden, such as the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Improvement and Jobs Act, as well as funding for organizations like the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
In his ruling, Judge McConnell said the freeze was “unconstitutional” and had already caused, and continued to cause, serious harm across the country.
The freeze started after the Office of Management and Budget told federal agencies to stop releasing grants while they checked if the spending aligned with Trump’s political goals. This caused legal battles and confusion. The memo was later withdrawn, but McConnell said this was just a move to make it seem like the freeze was over. He added that the freeze itself remained in effect.
This latest ruling came after Democratic attorneys general in 22 states and Washington, D.C. complained that the Trump administration wasn’t following the judge’s order to restart funding. They pointed out that grants from the two Biden-backed laws and NIH funding were still being held back.
The states argued that the government had failed to fully lift the freeze, causing major disruptions and hurting billions of dollars in federal funding that should be helping their states.
The government fought back, claiming it had made “good-faith, diligent efforts” to comply with the judge’s order. However, the judge’s latest ruling shows that the Trump administration must act immediately to unfreeze the funds.
