A federal judge temporarily blocked President Trump’s plan to freeze federal aid minutes before it was set to go into effect late Tuesday afternoon.
U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan said she was granting a “brief administrative stay” that preserves federal disbursements at least until Monday after a group of nonprofit and public health organizations filed a lawsuit.
AliKhan, an appointee of former President Biden who was randomly assigned to the case, issued the order at the conclusion of a hastily scheduled video conference Tuesday that began just an hour before the freeze.
gTrump’s move was announced in a Monday night memo issued by Matthew Vaeth, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). It directs federal agencies to temporarily pause “all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance” while the government conducts a review to ensure spending aligns with Trump’s agenda.
The administration defended the plan Tuesday and stressed its limitations, insisting the plan doesn’t apply across the board and won’t affect Social Security and other direct payments to individuals.
In court filings, the Justice Department emphasized those limitations as reason to deny the nonprofits’ request for an immediate injunction. The groups hadn’t identified any imminent grant disbursements they would miss if Trump’s plan takes effect, the government added.
“Defendants respectfully submit that these proceedings should unfold on a reasonable timeline, allowing for due consideration of Plaintiffs’ claims and their request for expansive relief,” the Justice Department wrote.
The lawsuit was filed by the National Council of Nonprofits; SAGE, a pro-LGBTQ advocacy organization for older adults; the American Public Health Association; and small-business group Main Street Alliance. They are represented by Democracy Forward, a left-leaning legal organization that has frequently battled Trump in the courts.
In their request to the judge, the organizations claimed Trump’s plan had no legal authority and that countless people and groups would be “thrown into disarray” without the court’s immediate intervention.
“This memo—made public only through journalists’ reporting, with barely twenty-four hours’ notice, devoid of any legal basis or the barest rationale—will have a devastating impact on thousands of grant and subgrant recipients who depend on the inflow of grant money (money already obligated, awarded, and funding ongoing work) to fulfill their missions, pay their employees, pay their rent—and, indeed, improve the day-to-day lives of the many people they work so hard to serve,” their motion reads.
Separately from the nonprofits’ lawsuit, a number of Democratic state attorneys general led by New York announced plans to sue over the freeze later Tuesday.
