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President Donald Trump on “Meet the Press” Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024 (NBC News/YouTube).
A federal court in Rhode Island issued an order temporarily halting the Trump administration’s funding freeze on federal aid programs just a few hours after the White House rescinded the memo responsible for setting off a chaotic series of events that left nonprofits and federal assistance programs scrambling.
U.S. District Judge John McConnell on Wednesday became the second federal judge to block the policy in less than 24 hours.
During a hearing on Wednesday, McConnell said that the White House sabotaged its own attempt to walk back the “hugely ambiguous” directives in the memo from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), meaning the order was still subject to the court’s jurisdiction at least for the moment, according to a report from Politico.
“I’m inclined to grant the restraining order,” McConnell reportedly said during the hearing. “I fear … that the administration is acting with a distinction without a difference.”
The OMB memo, which was sent out Tuesday morning, stated the following (bold in original):
“[T]o the extent permissible under applicable law, Federal agencies must temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance, and other relevant agency activities that may be implicated by the executive orders, including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal.”
The measure caused mass confusion throughout entities dependent on the federal government for funding, resulting in the administration issuing a follow-up memorandum rescinding the prior one.
“OMB Memorandum M-25-13 is rescinded. If you have questions about implementing the President’s Executive Orders, please contact your agency General Counsel,” the second memo stated.
However, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt followed up the second memo with a social media post that seemed to only further muddy the water as to the administration’s intentions by stating that the funding freeze was still in place.
“This is NOT a rescission of the federal funding freeze,” she wrote in a post to X, formerly Twitter. “It is simply a rescission of the OMB memo. Why? To end any confusion created by the court’s injunction. The President’s EO’s on federal funding remain in full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented.”
The post was not enough to ameliorate McConnell’s concerns, as he reasoned that the potential harm envisioned by the plaintiffs in the case remained just as likely to occur.
“While the piece of paper may not exist, there’s sufficient evidence that the defendants collectively are acting consistent with that directive,” McConnell reportedly said, “and therefore the arguments that they have about needing a [restraining order] exist.”
Unsure about how the White House rescinding the order could further complicate any legal proceedings, McConnell also reportedly asked the plaintiffs to submit a proposed order for the court to enforce.
McConnell’s order came one day after U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan issued an administrative stay blocking Trump’s policy.
The five-page order came in response to a lawsuit against the week-old Trump administration by the National Council of Nonprofits (NCN), the largest network of nonprofit organizations in North America. It has more than 30,000 organizational members and other groups, including SAGE, which describes itself as the country’s largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of elderly LGBTQ+ people.
