‘We have a long road ahead of us, to be sure,’ Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said after a Providence federal judge sided with 23 Democratic attorneys general in granting a preliminary injuction on Thursday, March 2, 2025, blocking the Trump administration’s federal funding freeze. (Photo by Nancy Lavin/Rhode Island Current)
A Providence federal judge on Thursday offered a civics lesson along with his order stopping the Trump administration and federal agencies from blocking access to federal grants and aid.
The preliminary injunction by Chief Judge John McConnell Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island grants a request from a coalition of Democratic attorneys general seeking to reverse the federal funding freeze set in motion by a memo the Office of Management and Budget released in late January.
“The Executive’s categorical freeze of appropriated and obligated funds fundamentally undermines the distinct constitutional roles of each branch of our government,” McConell wrote at the beginning of his 45-page ruling.
“The interaction of the three co-equal branches of government is an intricate, delicate, and sophisticated balance—but it is crucial to our form of constitutional governance. Here, the Executive put itself above Congress. It imposed a categorical mandate on the spending of congressionally appropriated and obligated funds without regard to Congress’s authority to control spending.”
This case, State of New York v. Trump, was filed by Democratic attorneys general from New York, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha applauded the ruling.
“We don’t have kings in this country, and today’s preliminary injunction reaffirms that,” Neronha said.
The Trump administration had argued that the freeze officially ended with the rescinding of the two-page Jan. 27 memo instructing departments and agencies throughout the federal government to pause payments on grants and loans. However, the AGs had outlined a long list of harms caused by the disruption, including to Head Start program providers across the country who had difficulties accessing federal funds and were forced to consider layoffs, service reductions and even closures.
McConnell took note of federal funds for critical transportation infrastructure, including the $60 million reimbursement promised to Maryland for the costs of removal and salvage of debris from the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.
Budget uncertainty caused by the freeze led Brown University’s research community to suspend orders of large research equipment, “which over time will negatively impact the ability of researchers to conduct their studies,” McConnell wrote.
McConnell’s ruling followed a two-hour hearing in Providence on Feb. 21, during which Department of Justice attorney Daniel Schwei acknowledged the budget memo was too broadly interpreted at first. But Schwei argued the AGs’ request seeking to stop the administration and federal agencies from blocking access to any federal grants and aid was too broad.
Lawyers for the Trump administration, McConnell said, had not cited any constitutional or statutory authority allowing it to categorically freeze funds Congress authorized federal agencies and departments to spend.
“The Court is not limiting the Executive’s discretion or micromanaging the administration of federal funds,” McConnell continued. “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 authorized by the congressionally approved appropriations statutes.”
The U.S. Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This case and another lawsuit filed by the National Council of Nonprofits, American Public Health Association, Main Street Alliance and SAGE in Washington, D.C. began when the Office of Management and Budget issued a two-page memo on Jan. 27 instructing departments and agencies throughout the federal government to pause payments on grants and loans the next day at 5 p.m.
In the other case, District Judge Loren L. AliKhan issued a preliminary injunction last week blocking the Trump administration from implementing a sweeping freeze on grant and loan programs. Both AliKhan and McConnell are Biden appointees.
AliKhan had issued a temporary restraining order on Feb. 3, shortly after McConnell Jr. had issued one on Jan. 31.
“There is a silver lining here: right now, the Judicial Branch stands strong,” Neronha said. “Judge McConnell decided to grant our request for a preliminary injunction, so that this case may be heard on its merits, because frankly, the law is on our side. In doing so, Americans should feel encouraged that the President cannot impose his will where he does not have the constitutional power to do so. And while he may continue to try, we will continue to fight.”
Neronha added that “We have a long road ahead of us, to be sure.”
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