Summary
A federal judge temporarily blocked Trump’s freeze on all federal grants and loans, which was set to begin Tuesday at 5:00 p.m.
The order, issued by U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan, pauses the freeze until February 3, with a hearing scheduled for Monday.
The funding halt caused widespread disruptions, shutting down Medicaid portals and Head Start programs.
Trump’s order sought to review agencies’ commitments to DEI and environmental policies.
Attorneys general from 23 states have sued to oppose the freeze.
This is his second major loss. He already had his birthright citizenship revocation blocked as well.
Of course, neither are really “major” until they are made permanent.
He blocked it for like a week, I hardly call that a “major loss”.
Loren AliKhan
She.
Also, yes, she blocked it for a week. She blocked it immediately because it has a significant chance of causing harm if it were to take effect immediately. This gives her time to consider the issue and give a real ruling. The fact that she blocked the order from going into effect so quickly indicates that she thinks that she is likely to block the order altogether.
You’re right, it’s not a “major loss” for Trump yet, but it is shaping up to be one. I expect she will block this, it will get appealed to the DC Court of Appeals who will affirm, then SCOTUS will decline to hear the subsequent appeal.
SCOTUS will decline to hear the subsequent appeal.
You have more faith in them than I do.
Also, likelihood of success on the merits. It’s a flag that the judge is pretty confident that the order will be struck down after going through all the procedures. Those take times, which is why chance of causing harm is also considered. If it’s both likely to succeed on the merits, and would hurt if not blocked right now (and a few other things), then it shouldn’t be allowed to play out while all the procedure is being done.
Thanks, yes. This is what I was trying to say but didn’t quite manage to state correctly.
I think OP meant that trump blocked the funding for a week, which is a win for him.
It had been set to begin Jan 28 at 5pm, so no, it hasn’t had any effect yet.
Trump’s order never went into effect. The judge blocked his order before it could take effect.
It’s unlikely that it will ever take effect either as evidenced by the injunction. The judge wouldn’t have issued an injunction if she didn’t think there was:
- a substantial likelihood that the law would have significant negative impacts if it were to take effect and
- a strong likelihood that Trump’s order would be permanently blocked upon further review.
Get wrecked
So did they get access to the funds? Just because a judge did this doesn’t mean Trump people listen.
Yes, as far as I’m aware. At least the medicaid portals came back online yesterday evening. President does NOT have the power of the purse. If SCOTUS ultimately rules against this, which would be insane because the constitution literally spells this exact phrasing out, then it’ll be among the last proverbial nails in the coffin for checks and balances.
“Power of the purse” is an abstract concept, and I don’t think Trump is capable of that kind of thought. He is transactional and authoritarian. He views being President as being the ultimate boss. Why can’t the boss impose his will on “his” employees? We know it’s because those people work for America, not for him personally. But he is incapable of acknowledging the difference.
So, those portals go back online, because some Undersecretary of Somethingorother interpreted a lawful court ruling properly, and continues to disburse funds according to law. Guess what? That person is getting summarily fired and replaced with someone who only listens to The Boss. The portal will go down again at some point, this time for good.
True, I don’t disagree.
As for your last sentence, the freeze was originally intended to last 2 weeks while they “analyzed” everything. In my opinion, they usually pull these very public stunts that they know will draw everyone’s attention while they’re doing other crazy and/or corrupt shenanigans. While everyone’s distracted, those other shenanigans don’t get much–if any–news coverage.
Yeah, it’s classic misdirection
I wonder what things are slipping by while we’re all distracted by this insanity…
BLOCKCEPTION
Found out
All he found out was another name to add to the purge list. He’s gonna ignore it all and keep going. Even if the SCOTUS tells him they are not going to back him up, they have already given up all enforcement capability with their immunity decision.
The sole (lawful) remedy is impeachment. He can ignore the courts and Congress entirely as long as a majority of the House (or just 34 Senators ) let him.
Well that’s not true at all. Wait until California stops sending funds to DC for constitutional breaches and failures. Can’t pick and choose without consequences.
That would play into his hands. He wants to fuck up the federal government and blocking a significant chunk of tax income would help with that.
He doesn’t want to reduce the budget overall, but rather limit spending and direct that money to his rich owners and “friends”.
He would prefer that, but he’d gladly take anything that damages government organizations. Remember he’s the kind of guy that would rather destroy something than let someone else get any benefit out of it. If he doesn’t profit from it in some fashion it’s a target.
Except it isn’t like California writes a check to DC every month. In order for California to stop sending money to DC then every employer with an employee in California would need to stop deducting federal taxes from everyone’s paychecks. I don’t think our (m/b)illionaire owners are going to allow that to happen.
… consequences.
What world do you live in? Not only has Donald never experienced any real consequences, he has consistently been rewarded.
