Federal Judge Freezes the Freeze, Blocks Trump’s Plan

Donald Trump. Photo from the White House.

Just before it was scheduled to go into effect, U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan blocked much of a Trump administration plan to freeze federal aid distribution.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) action is now delayed until at least Monday, the Associated Press reports.

Locally, Milwaukee officials spent the day trying to understand the potential impact of the freeze and what was and wasn’t included. Across the country, their colleagues were doing the same.

“There are so many questions we don’t have answers to,” said Mayor Cavalier Johnson at a press briefing Tuesday afternoon. “We going to find ourselves in a difficult position if we’re not able to pull these federal resources down.” He estimated the city’s annual federal aid totals “tens of millions of dollars.”

“This is very draconian,” said Congresswoman Gwen Moore (D-Milwaukee). “We can’t pretend that this just has an impact on Democratic cities; this is going to have an impact on farmers, on rural areas and rural hospitals, red, blue or purple, whoever you are, you’re on notice now that the chaos and the suffering across demographics is going to come with this.”

AliKhan’s ruling prevents President Donald Trump‘s administration from freezing funding for “open awards.” She described her action as a “brief administrative stay.”

An OMB memo, issued late Monday by acting director Matthew Vaeth, says the pause is only to apply to “financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal.”

“The use of federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve,” wrote Vaeth.

But that left school districts, nonprofits, cities, counties and states guessing what exactly would be included.

“I think there is the specter of irreparable harm,” said Judge Alikhan.

The legal challenge was filed by a coalition of nonprofit organizations, including the National Council of Nonprofits and the American Public Health Association. Other lawsuits, including a multi-state challenge that Governor Tony Evers joined, are expected to proceed.

For more on the potential local impact, see our earlier coverage.

An earlier Trump executive order ending birthright citizenship was also blocked by a federal judge.