A lawsuit was filed on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., seeking to temporarily block a funding freeze ordered by the Trump administration. This lawsuit claims that the freeze, imposed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), is illegal. The National Council of Nonprofits and the American Public Health Association are the plaintiffs in the case, challenging a decision that could have significant ramifications for federal grant and loan recipients.
The Trump administration's funding freeze became public knowledge through a memo released late Monday night. The memo outlined an immediate halt on all federal grants and loans, prompting widespread concern among affected organizations. The lawsuit asserts that this action is unlawful and lacks a clear legal foundation.
"Although the Trump Administration is at liberty to 'advance its priorities,' it must do so within the confines of the law. It has not," the suit states.
The plaintiffs argue that the OMB's decision disregards the legal authority necessary to make such sweeping changes and fails to account for the impact on organizations reliant on federal funding. They also claim the memo undermines grant recipients' rights, particularly concerning their First Amendment freedoms.
"The Memo fails to explain the source of OMB's purported legal authority to gut every grant program in the federal government; it fails to consider the reliance interest of the many grant recipients, including those to whom money had already been promised; and it announces a policy of targeting grant recipients based in part on those recipients' First Amendment rights and with no bearing on the recipients' eligibility to receive federal funds," the lawsuit emphasizes.
The potential consequences of this freeze are vast, affecting countless organizations across various sectors. The lawsuit highlights the devastating impact on these entities, which depend on federal funds to conduct their operations and support their missions.
"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 hundreds of thousands of grant recipients who depend on the inflow of grant money (money already obligated and already awarded) 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," the suit contends.
In addition to this lawsuit, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, disclosed that the New York state attorney general's office plans to file its own lawsuit challenging the OMB's freeze. This indicates a broader opposition to the administration's decision, raising questions about its legality and potential repercussions.
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