Preliminary Injunction

TRENTON – New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and a coalition of 22 other attorneys general today won a preliminary injunction against the Trump Administration to block its illegal policy freezing funding to states for essential federal agency grants, loans, and other financial assistance programs. Judge John J. McConnell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island today granted the preliminary injunction after Attorney General Platkin and the coalition sued the Trump Administration to stop the funding freeze.

“From the beginning, we have made clear that President Trump’s federal funding freeze was blatantly illegal – and now a federal judge has agreed with us and granted a preliminary injunction,” said Attorney General Platkin. “This funding freeze was not only unlawful, but also cruel and wrong – yanking away Medicaid funding, disaster relief funding and even targeting drug-trafficking enforcement efforts. I am proud that our office was able to help put a stop to this extremely harmful action by the Trump Administration, and we will continue to fight for all 9.5 million of our residents.”

The Trump Administration’s funding freeze policy, issued through an array of actions, including a January 27 memorandum from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), illegally withheld trillions of dollars in federal funds for states and other entities. The policy caused immediate chaos and uncertainty for millions of Americans who rely on state programs that receive these federal funds.

Attorney General Platkin and the coalition sued the administration over the freeze on January 28, and on January 31, the court granted the attorneys generals’ request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) blocking the freeze’s implementation until further order from the court. On February 7, Attorney General Platkin and the coalition filed motions for enforcement and a preliminary injunction to stop the illegal freeze and preserve federal funding that families, communities, and states rely on. On February 8, the court granted the motion for enforcement, ordering the administration to immediately comply with the TRO and stop freezing federal funds.

On February 28, Attorney General Platkin and the coalition filed a second motion for enforcement seeking to stop the Trump administration from freezing hundreds of millions of dollars in grants to the states from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Today, the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island granted Attorney General Platkin and the coalition’s request for a preliminary injunction, halting the implementation of the administration’s policy. The Court concluded that the states had demonstrated a high likelihood of success on their claims that the actions making up the funding freeze policy were unlawful. In today’s order, the Court also required the administration to provide evidence of their compliance with regard to unfreezing FEMA funds by March 14 and to alert all agencies about the Court’s order.

The lawsuit is led by the attorneys general of New Jersey, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, and Rhode Island. Joining them in this lawsuit are 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.

###