Court Blocks Trump’s Decision to Suspend Grant Payments
29 January 2025 08:57
A court in the US District of Columbia has temporarily suspended US President Donald Trump’s executive order to freeze the domestic payment of about $3 trillion in government-approved grants and loans to non-governmental organizations. This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to the AP.
The National Council of Nonprofit Organizations filed a lawsuit, claiming that such actions are illegal and jeopardize important social and international initiatives.
U.S. District Judge Lauren L. Alihan blocked the funding freeze just minutes before it was to take effect.
The judge sided with Democracy First, a group of activists who filed a lawsuit at the federal level claiming that the new president’s actions violated the First Amendment to the Constitution regarding freedom of speech and administrative law.
Another hearing is scheduled for today to consider the matter.
Representatives of the new US administration said that such actions were necessary. At the same time, Democrats called Trump’s decision to suspend funding capricious and illegal. Democrats argue that the president had no right to unilaterally stop spending money allocated by Congress.
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Just minutes after Alihan issued her ruling, Democratic attorneys general from 22 states and the District of Columbia filed their own lawsuit in an effort to block and permanently prevent the administration from cutting off federal funding.
“There is no question that this policy is reckless, dangerous, illegal and unconstitutional,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James.
The White House said that the suspension of funding was necessary to bring spending in line with Trump’s new executive orders. At the same time, they assured that the initiative would not affect programs that provide direct assistance to citizens, such as Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, student loans, or food stamps. Nevertheless, many organizations have expressed concern.
A temporary ban on the application of the order will be in effect until February 3, after which the court must make a final decision on whether Donald Trump has the right to freeze grant aid.
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This is the second time that Trump’s decisions have been blocked by the court: earlier, the executive order abolishing the right to birthright citizenship was suspended.
