Appeals court won't halt judge’s order requiring Trump administration to unfreeze all federal cash A federal appeals court on Tuesday refused to immediately halt a judge's order requiring the Trump administration to release billions of dollars in federal grants and loans that remain frozen even after a court blocked a sweeping pause on federal funding.
That ruling came from U.S. District Court Judge John McConnell in Rhode Island, the first judge to find that the administration had disobeyed a court order.
Circuit Court of Appeals turned back the emergency appeal, though it said it expected the lower court judge to act quickly to clarify his order and would keep considering the issue.
The Republican administration previously said the sweeping funding pause would bring federal spending in line with the president’s priorities, including increasing fossil fuel production, removing protections for transgender people and ending diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
The Justice Department argued the sweeping lower court order to keep all federal grants and loans flowing was “intolerable judicial overreach.”.
