2 Lawsuits Seek To Halt Trump's Federal Funding Freeze

[Amaryllis]

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-inauguration-live-updates_n_678a8f36e4b097ab56976f5b

A coalition of 23 states led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit Tuesday in an attempt to stop Trump’s federal funding freeze from taking effect at 5 p.m. ET.

A similar lawsuit was also filed by a collection of advocacy groups: the National Council of Nonprofits, the American Public Health Association, the Main Street Alliance and SAGE, which serves LGBTQ seniors.

Both suits requested a temporary restraining order against the Office of Management and Budget after its acting director, Matthew Vaeth, issued a memo on Monday titled “Temporary Pause of Agency Grant, Loan, and Other Financial Assistance Programs.”

The pause has already sparked mass confusion over what programs and institutions will be affected, with little answer so far from the White House.

“The Trump Administration is recklessly disregarding the health, well-being and public safety of the people it is supposed to serve,” Bonta said in a statement. He noted the freeze could hit California particularly hard as the state reels from a series of wildfires requiring assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Both suits call the action “arbitrary and capricious,” a legal standard of review that courts use in determining whether a federal agency has violated the Administrative Procedure Act, which gives the courts say over agency actions.

[dweller]

1. I think I see the failure in communication

that is standing in the way here … this maladministration believes the funds in contention here are the property “ of the people it is supposed to serve” , namely themselves , and everyone else is just a hurdle to them taking it all .
Get real people … and get out of the way of the grift



✌🏻

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. 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.