Rhode Island judge upholds pause on Trump admin's funding freeze

A Rhode Island judge has upheld his temporary restraining order blocking the Trump administration from conducting its funding freeze.

US District Court Judge John McConnell had issued a temporary restraining order against the Trump administration on Friday, and issued an order on Monday stating that the Trump administration had violated the restraining order. The First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston declined to overturn McConnell’s temporary restraining order late Tuesday, per WJAR.

In McConnell’s Wednesday order, he upheld his temporary restraining order and denied the administration’s request for them to continue withholding "FEMA and other funding." He also noted that his previous order allows the administration "to limit access to federal funds ‘on the basis of the applicable authorizing statutes, regulations, and terms,’" and that his order does not block "both the President and much of the Federal Government from exercising their own lawful authorities to withhold funding without the prior approval of the district court."

The lawsuit was brought against the Trump administration by Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha and 22 other attorneys general. Neronha said in a statement at the time of filing, "I am grateful for Judge McConnell’s careful consideration of this matter and for seeing the irreparable harm that this directive would cause, and frankly has already caused, Americans across the country."

"As we allege in our complaint, the Executive Branch does not have the authority to intercept crucially important federal funding that the Congress has already allocated to the states, and on which Americans rely. This directive targets public safety, health care, veterans’ services, childcare, disaster relief, and countless other cornerstones of American life. Make no mistake: this federal funding pause was implemented to inspire fear and chaos, and it was successful in that respect. These tactics are intended to wear us down, but with each legal victory we reaffirm that these significant and unlawful disruptions won’t be tolerated, and will certainly be met with swift and immediate action now and in the future."