A US federal judge has extended his block on President Donald Trump's attempt to impose a blanket freeze on billions of dollars in congressionally appropriated funding for federal grants, loans and government programmes.
US District Court Judge John McConnell said on Thursday the lawsuit brought by 22 Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia centers on the fundamental separation of power enshrined in the Constitution, ruling the president has violated the principle by mandating a "categorical" freeze on funding appropriated and obligated by Congress.
"The Executive's categorical freeze of appropriated and obligated funds fundamentally undermines the distinct constitutional roles of each branch of our government," McConnell wrote in his 45-page order.
"Here, the Executive put itself above Congress."
"The Court is not limiting the Executive’s discretion or micromanaging the administration of federal funds. Rather, consistent with the Constitution, statutes, and caselaw, the Court is simply holding that the Executive’s discretion to impose its own policy preferences on appropriated funds can be exercised only if it is authorised by the congressionally approved appropriations statute," he added.
The ruling comes after Trump's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) circulated a memo to all federal agencies in January instructing them to halt all funding for federal grants until they could be reviewed to determine whether they comply with the president's policy priorities.
The move set off widespread confusion across the country as states grappled with a major curtailment in federal funding, and while the Trump administration rescinded that memo, it has continued its review.
McConnell said in February that the administration had not fully complied with his earlier temporary restraining order that blocked the funding freeze as he instructed it to "immediately restore frozen funding."
His new temporary injunction prohibits agencies "from reissuing, adopting, implementing, giving effect to, or reinstating under a different name the directives in" the memo.
He further directed the OMB to inform all government agencies of his ruling, telling them they "may not take any steps to implement, give effect to, or reinstate under a different name or through other means the directives in the OMB Directive with respect to the disbursement or transmission of appropriated federal funds to the States under awarded grants, executed contracts, or other executed financial obligations."
An appeal from the Trump administration is all but guaranteed.
'We don’t have kings in this country'
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said President Trump has "attempted to subvert the rule of law in favor of illegal executive power" through his executive orders.
"We don't have kings in this country, and today’s preliminary injunction reaffirms that," Neronha, a Democrat, said in a statement.
"Americans pay taxes to the federal government knowing that the Congress will allocate their dollars towards agencies and programs that will support them in their daily lives,” he continued.
"The President's federal funding freeze would be laughable if it wasn't so utterly destructive. It flies in the face of everything we know to be true about our government, namely our separation of powers, by attempting to render the Congress as irrelevant."
Among the funding impacted is billions of dollars that would fund rooftop solar power in low-income neighbourhoods, subsidizes low- and moderate-income households' purchase and installation of electric heat pump water heaters and grants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful pollutants.
"The Trump administration's illegal funding freeze jeopardized law enforcement funding, essential health care and childcare services, and other critical programs that millions of Americans rely on," New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, said in a statement.
