Mass AG co-leading lawsuit to halt Trump's pause in federal funding:

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell is co-leading a lawsuit to stop the Trump Administration’s pause on federal grants and loans.

Campbell is joining 22 other state attorneys general in the suit, which was filed Tuesday in the federal district court in Rhode Island.

While a judge for the federal district court in Washington, D.C. temporarily blocked the implementation of this policy until Feb. 3, the attorneys general are proceeding with their lawsuit.

“In Massachusetts, residents rely on federal funding for healthcare, childcare, education and jobs,” said Campbell in a press release. “President Trump’s action to pause federal aid is a reckless abuse of power that harms the very working people and families he promised to protect.”

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell

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Why did Trump freeze federal aid? What does that mean?

Trump’s memo, issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), directs agencies to pause federal grants, loans, and other financial assistance programs so the administration can review them for whether they fit the president’s priorities.

While it did not lay out which grants exactly would be affected, the memo cast a broad directive.

“In the interim, to the extent permissible under applicable law, federal agencies must temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all federal financial assistance, and other relevant agency activities that may be impacted by the executive orders, including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal,” Matthew J. Vaeth, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, wrote in the memo.

More: Trump administration orders ‘pause’ on federal grants, loans. What we know so far.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that the pause wouldn’t cover assistance that goes straight to individuals, like Social Security and Medicare benefits or food stamps. The U.S. Department of Education said that direct student loans and Pell Grants also wouldn’t be stopped.

While the memo didn’t outline how much in federal grants must be immediately halted, it said that federal financial assistance totaled $3 trillion last year.

On Inauguration Day, President Donald Trump signs executive orders on immigration, gender identity and the federal workforce. The next day he authorized federal agents to conduct immigration arrests on school campuses.

How many people in Massachusetts would be affected?

Massachusetts receives more than $20 billion in federal funding, according to a press release from the attorney general’s office. Nearly 3,000 people are employed through federal grants in the state.

More in U.S.

The attorney general’s office said that freezing those funds could jeopardize state programs that support public schools, combat drug trafficking, provide disaster relief, and improve infrastructure like roads and bridges, among other things.

The press release said that nearly $40 million in funds have already been frozen in Massachusetts.

What does the MA lawsuit say?

The attorneys general’s lawsuit says the order was unconstitutional because the Constitution grants Congress the power to determine spending, not the president.

“The attorneys general argue that the president cannot decide to unilaterally override laws governing federal spending, and that OMB’s policy unconstitutionally overrides Congress’s power to decide how federal funds are spent,” the press release reads.

The lawsuit says that the “substantial confusion” created by the directive will “result in immediate and devastating harm” to their states. Some effects they listed include jeopardizing disaster relief funds, like those being sent to California and North Carolina, as well as depriving law enforcement of resources.

Campbell is co-leading the lawsuit with the attorneys general of New York, California, Illinois, New Jersey and Rhode Island. It is joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.

Contributing: Bart Jansen, Erin Mansfield

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Mass AG sues to halt Trump freezing federal aid

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