Judge warns Trump administration to comply as Del., other states win enforcement of stay blocking federal funding freeze

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This story was supported by a statehouse coverage grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

A federal judge granted an order enforcing a temporary restraining order Monday that blocks President Donald Trump’s administration from freezing federal funding to states.

This comes as the judge found that the Trump administration hasn’t fully followed his order to unfreeze federal spending and told the White House to release all the money.

U.S. District Court Judge John McConnell ruled that ongoing struggles to get federal money for things like early childhood education, pollution reduction and HIV prevention research violated his Jan. 31 order. He ordered the Trump administration to “immediately take every step necessary” to follow his temporary restraining order halting Trump’s plans for a sweeping freeze of federal funding.

The judge said his temporary restraining order also blocks the administration from cutting billions of dollars in grant funding from the National Institutes of Health.

“The Defendants now plea that they are just trying to root out fraud. […] But the freezes in effect now were a result of the broad categorical order, not a specific finding of possible fraud,” the judge’s order states. “The broad categorical and sweeping freeze of federal funds is, as the court found, likely unconstitutional and has caused and continues to cause irreparable harm to a vast portion of this country. These pauses in funding violate the plain text of the [temporary restraining order].”

Delaware and dozens of other states asked a court last month to stop President Donald Trump’s administration from freezing federal spending going to states and nonprofits. The order prompted a lawsuit by nonprofit groups. There are stays in both cases for the time being.

The memo from the Office of Management and Budget from January temporarily paused most federal assistance to states while the Trump administration planned to conduct an across-the-board ideological review to uproot progressive initiatives.

Members of Delaware’s congressional delegation said last week that programs like Head Start were still dealing with lingering headaches in drawing federal funding.

Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings said in a news release that after the coalition of 23 attorneys general obtained a Jan. 31 stay in the freeze of funding, the U.S. Department of Energy requested the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control acknowledge its earlier directive to cease federal funding. In addition, the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) still could not access grant funds to protect children under the age of 6 from lead paint poisoning.

“Rather than arbitrary numbers on a bottom line, it is public safety, healthcare, preschool, health research, housing and infrastructure that is on the chopping block,” she said in a statement. “This is reckless, callous, and an incredible insult to the American people, including the millions who voted for President Trump. ”

The U.S. Justice Department argued that McConnell’s ruling didn’t apply to other spending pauses outlined in different memos, including funds that were part of President Joe Biden’s signature climate, health care and tax package. McConnell disagreed.

A different federal judge in Washington, D.C. has issued a temporary restraining order against the funding freeze plan in the lawsuit brought by the nonprofits and has since expressed concern that some nonprofit groups weren’t getting their funding.

Jennings has also joined a coalition of 18 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration to stop unauthorized disclosure of Americans’ private information and sensitive data.

The legal filing argues the Trump administration illegally provided Elon Musk and the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) unauthorized access to the U.S. Treasury Department’s central payment system, and therefore to Americans’ most sensitive personal information, including bank account details and Social Security numbers.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.