Roll Call - A federal judge said Wednesday he intends to halt the Trump administration from freezing federal grant funding, despite officials rescinding an initial Office of Management and Budget memo on that effort earlier in the day.
Judge Jack McConnell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island said during a hearing Wednesday he was concerned the states that filed a legal challenge to the order Tuesday were still dealing with problems accessing funds mandated by Congress.
The judge sought to sort through the fallout from the initial memo, which blocked disbursement of all federal grants and loans other than for Social Security, Medicare, and other programs providing direct aid to individuals. The White House clarified on Tuesday that other sensitive programs including Medicaid and food stamps wouldn’t be affected either.
A judge in a separate legal challenge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Tuesday ordered a temporary halt to implementation of the original memo until Feb. 3. Acting White House budget director Matthew J. Vaeth rescinded that memo Wednesday with a new memo sent to agencies.
McConnell said attorneys for the states had convinced him “while the piece of paper may not exist, that there is sufficient evidence that the defendants collectively are acting consistent with that directive.”
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