A federal judge on Monday ordered the Trump administration to cease any use of an Office of Management and Budget memorandum issued last week that froze federal grants, criticizing the administration for actions that potentially “run roughshod” over Congress’ power over federal spending.
Judge Loren L. AliKhan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in a temporary restraining order instructed OMB to order departments to release any funds they froze using the memo.
The order also restricts OMB from “implementing, giving effect to, or reinstating under a different name” the memo. But it does not rule out the possibility that the Trump administration could require fund pauses under some executive orders, as the Justice Department has argued.
