Trump funding freeze challenged in lawsuit by nonprofits, small business group

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: CNBC

Published Tue, Jan 28 2025 12:38 PM EST Updated 6 Min Ago


Non-profit groups and a small-business organization filed a lawsuit on Tuesday asking a judge to temporarily block a funding freeze ordered by the Trump administration of all federal grants and loans. The lawsuit says the freeze imposed by the Office of Management and Budget is illegal. The suit in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., blasts the OMB’s action, which became known Monday night through a memo.

“This Memo — made public only through journalists’ reporting, with barely twenty four hours’ notice, devoid of any legal basis or the barest rationale — will have a devastating impact on hundreds of thousands of grant recipients who depend on the inflow of grant money (money already obligated and already awarded) to fulfill their missions, pay their employees, pay their rent — and, indeed, improve the day-to-day lives of the many people they work so hard to serve,” the suit says.

“Although the Trump Administration is at liberty to “advanc[e] [its] priorities,” it must do so within the confines of the law. It has not,” the suit says.

“The Memo fails to explain the source of OMB’s purported legal authority to gut every grant program in the federal government; it fails to consider the reliance interest of the many grant recipients, including those to whom money had already been promised; and it announces a policy of targeting grant recipients based in part on those recipients’ First Amendment rights and with no bearing on the recipients’ eligibility to receive federal funds.”

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/28/lawsuit-seeks-to-block-trump-funding-freeze.html

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Democracy Docket (Marc Elias) is monitoring and updating - Nonprofits Sue Trump Administration Over Federal Grants Freeze

[underpants]

1. Good.

[mwmisses4289]

2. Excellent!

More of this, please!

[NotHardly]

3. Better start something before he makes this a felony.

[C Moon]

4. Trump et al are going so far out on limb

with all the right wing destruction, I think it’s a shock and awe thing; plus a typical gop tactic to shoot as high as possible, so when everything is settled at the bargaining table, it looks like they aren’t being greedy.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

6. No

They're going so far out on a limb they're going to crash and burn.

[kacekwl]

5. Thank you for

Standing up.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

7. MaddowBlog-Democratic AGs sue Trump admin over federal grants freeze amid widespread confusion

The question was when, not whether, Trump’s funding freeze would face a legal challenge. A group of Democratic state attorneys general answered soon after.
https://bsky.app/profile/tmfab.bsky.social/post/3lgtnugwvs22l

Link to tweet

The question was when, not whether, Trump’s new policy would face a legal challenge. The public did not have to wait too long for an answer.

In a morning news conference, Schumer told reporters that New York Attorney General Letitia James was “going to court” to contest the White House’s “illegal” move. The senator knew of what he spoke: The state’s Democratic attorney general has, in fact, already filed suit taking aim at the president’s legally dubious spending freeze.

She’s partnering in this case with Democratic attorneys general from 21 other states and the District of Columbia: Rob Bonta of California, Kwame Raoul of Illinois, Andrea Campbell of Massachusetts, Matt Platkin of New Jersey, Peter Neronha of Rhode Island, Kris Mayes of Arizona, Phil Weiser of Colorado, William Tong of Connecticut, Kathy Jennings of Delaware, Brian Schwalb of Washington, D.C., Anne Lopez of Hawaii, Aaron Frey of Maine, Anthony G. Brown of Maryland, Dana Nessel of Michigan, General Keith Ellison of Minnesota, Aaron Ford of Nevada, Jeff Jackson of North Carolina, Raúl Torrez of New Mexico, Dan Rayfield of Oregon, Charity Clark of Vermont, Nicholas W. Brown of Washington and Josh Kaul of Wisconsin.

This lawsuit is separate from a related case filed by a coalition of nonprofits and public health advocates, who collectively asked a federal judge for an emergency order to block the White House’s policy. That judge issued an administrative stay on Tuesday afternoon that pushed the start date of the federal funding freeze to Monday at 5 p.m. ET while litigation plays out......

And while that might’ve sounded reassuring, NBC News also reported on some of the preliminary consequences of Team Trump’s gambit.

Nonprofit organizations reached by NBC News said some of their funding appeared to have already been cut off, and they were scrambling to figure out what the implications could be for their programs, like those providing health care, housing and early childhood education.

There are related reports about state-based Medicaid portals’ shutting down as a result of the White House’s move, though administration officials are apparently working to address this.

As for the likely fate of the new cases, NBC News published a separate report noting that the issue could make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court quickly.

Although the court has a 6-3 conservative majority, including three Trump appointees, legal experts say this could be one of several uphill legal battles the administration has picked. There are also Supreme Court precedents that have acknowledged restrictions on presidential power when it comes to how money is spent. In 1974, around the time the Impoundment Control Act was enacted, the court ruled against the Nixon administration in an attempt to withhold funding aimed at reducing water pollution.

Watch this space.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

8. Trump rescinds funding freeze memo after chaos, confusion

The White House sparked a national controversy when it ordered a freeze on federal grants. Under pressure, Team Trump rescinded its scandalous memo.
https://bsky.app/profile/msnbc.com/post/3lgvkv265z225

Link to tweet

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-rescinds-federal-funding-freeze-memo-chaos-confusion-rcna189851

Some political observers argue that Donald Trump and his team are simply impervious to pressure. No matter how great the outrage, the argument goes, the president and his Republican operation will ignore criticisms, rewrite history, deliver marching orders, and refuse to back down.

This observation is mistaken. Indeed, several examples have emerged since the president’s second inaugural.

Take, for example, the White House’s budget office ordered a freeze to federal grants, loans and related assistance — money that Congress has already appropriated — effectively trying to shift the power of the purpose to the Trump administration. The OMB memo sparked widespread confusion, chaos and controversy.

And it’s against this backdrop that the White House rescinded the memo on Wednesday.

Link to tweet

.....The criticisms are more than fair. White House officials have been planning for this moment for months. They had every opportunity to carefully and deliberately flesh out a policy, prepare for its unveiling, and implement it effectively. Instead, Team Trump issued a terribly written OMB memo, generated chaos and confusion, spent a day pretending it was sound, only to retreat under pressure that officials should've seen coming......

With this in mind, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer issued a celebratory statement — “Americans fought back, and Donald Trump backed off,” the New York Democrat wrote — warning of a second round to the broader fight.

“Though the Trump administration failed in this tactic, it’s no secret that they will try to find another, and when they do, it will again be Senate Democrats there to call it out, fight back, and defend American families,” Schumer concluded.