A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to cease the temporary freeze on federal grants and loans announced shortly after Trump was inaugurated; Trump Halts $3 Trillion in Federal Grants Pending Review of Compliance With His Executive Orders – RedState. Judge Loren AliKhan issued a temporary restraining order pending additional court action on February 7. This follows up on her emergency action on Friday to halt the funding freeze; see BREAKING: Federal Judge Issues Stay of Trump’s Funding Freeze. This order runs in tandem with another federal judge in Rhode Island who issued a similar order last week.
In a brief order, Judge AliKhan forbade the implementation of the freeze under any guise and required the Trump administration to notify all agencies of the court order.
BREAKING: Judge AliKhan has extended the block against the Trump federal grant freeze. https://t.co/dX57jvFosg pic.twitter.com/Gr5XrAFu8a
— Kaelan Deese (@KaelanDC) February 3, 2025
The short-term impact is that the freeze in federal grants and loans announced in a now-rescinded OMB memo will not take effect. Despite the left’s misrepresentation (see BREAKING: White House Rescinds Federal Aid Freeze Memo – RedState), the grants and loans did not apply to individual Americans but only to corporations and non-profits that rely on those programs to survive.
This case will be hugely important to President Trump’s ability to execute his agenda. While no one doubts federal agencies, like the OMB, can be sued, the withdrawal of the OMB memo creates a situation where President Trump is being sued to prevent him from executing his obviously legal authority — in this case, freezing loans and grants to get an accounting of where the money was going. If he is constrained from using his legal authority by rando federal judges, then it is game over. I also question how the Republic survives when a grant or loan recipient insists they have an ownership interest in that federal program and can make it continue for their convenience.
Just as a reminder, the judge in this case is a Biden-appointed left-wing activist who, with a straight face, argued that people going to church during COVID were a public health hazard while those out burning cities weren’t; see WATCH: Josh Hawley’s Epic Grilling of Biden Nominee on Hypocrisy of DC COVID Restrictions.
I would expect the Trump administration to try to fast-track this case. They argued that the judge didn’t have the authority to hear the case the first time around, but I’d still expect that to feature in the main event. The big thing they have to do is to get the case out of the courtroom and to the Supreme Court because the DC Circuit is all gritty-panties after Trump’s pardon of the January 6 protesters. I would not be shocked to wake up and find Trump has gone full-metal Andrew Jackson on her, saying she’s made her decision, now let her enforce it.
Ultimately, I think Trump will prevail in this because the idea of core executive decisions being up for grabs means the presidency ceases to exist. For now, the federal floodgates have reopened, so we can have drag queen story hour in children’s libraries and church groups aiding illegal immigrants, which are the mark of a true republic.
