Federal judge finds Trump has not complied with order to unfreeze funds, orders their release

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - A federal district court judge found Monday that President Donald Trump has defied a previous order to release frozen federal grants, and ordered his administration to immediately free up the funds.

Judge John McConnell said in a brief five-page order that his initial order "is clear and unambiguous, and there are no impediments to the Defendants’ compliance with the Order." He said the states that have filed suit have presented evidence that the Trump administration has continued to "improperly freeze federal funds and refused to resume disbursement of appropriated federal funds" after the order was issued on Jan. 31.

McConnell ordered Trump to "immediately take every step necessary to effectuate" the implementation of his temporary restraining order (TRO), which mandates the spending freeze be halted.

"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," he wrote. "These pauses in funding violate the plain text of the TRO."

The suit was brought by 21 states and Washington, DC. The administration had sought to argue that it was attempting to comply with the order in good faith as it carried out efforts it says are part of an anti-fraud effort.

But McConnell ruled that the "freezes in effect now were a result of the broad categorical order, not a specific finding of possible fraud."