By LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge found Monday that the Trump administration hasn’t fully followed his order to unfreeze federal spending and told the White House to release all the money.
U.S. District Court Judge John McConnell ruled that continued struggles to get federal money for things like early childhood education, pollution reduction and HIV prevention research violated his Jan. 31 order. He ordered the Trump administration to “immediately take every step necessary” to follow his temporary restraining over halting its plans for a sweeping freeze of federal funding.
The White House did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
The judge said his temporary restraining order also blocks the administration from cutting billions of dollars in grant funding from the National Institutes of Health.
“These pauses in funding violate the plain text of the (temporary restraining order),” he wrote. “The broad categorical and sweeping freeze of federal funds is, as the Court found, likely unconstitutional and has caused and continues to cause irreparable harm to a vast portion of this country.”
The administration has said it was making good-faith efforts to comply with the judge’s ruling in a lawsuit filed by nearly two dozen states. But the Justice Department also argued that his ruling only applied to a sweeping spending freeze outlined in a late January memo that has since been rescinded.
The ruling doesn’t apply to other spending pauses outlined in different memos, including funds that were part of President Joe Biden’s signature climate, health care and tax package.
But McConnell, who is based in Rhode Island and was nominated by President Barack Obama, said his order blocked the administration from a wide range of funding cuts.
The Republican administration previously said the sweeping funding pause would bring federal spending in line with the president’s agenda, and the White House press secretary has indicated some spending halts would continue as part of his blitz of executive orders.
Trump has sought to increase fossil fuel production, remove protections for transgender people and end diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
A different federal judge in Washington has issued a temporary restraining order against the funding freeze plan and since expressed concern that some nonprofit groups weren’t getting their funding.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha applauded McConnell’s ruling.
“This is a country of laws. We expect the administration to follow the law,” Neronha said in a statement. “We will not hesitate to go back to court if they don’t comply.”
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Associated Press writer Chris Megerian contributed to this story.