Attorney General Kathy Jennings today released the following statement after a federal court granted a motion filed by her office and a coalition of 22 other attorneys general to halt the implementation of a new Trump administration policy that would block federal agency grants, loans, and other financial assistance programs:

“These are not just federal dollars: they are health care, housing, and heating. They are public safety, transportation, and preschool,” said Attorney General Jennings. “They are the medical research that gives our loved ones a glimmer of hope when they are sick and conventional treatment fails. Threatening to freeze trillions of dollars on a moment’s notice was stunningly indifferent to millions of people’s lives, including millions across the country who voted for the President. Today’s Court order ensures that, regardless of Donald Trump’s momentary whims, those funds will go where they belong.”

The proposed policy, issued by the President’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on January 27, would put an indefinite pause on the majority of federal assistance, jeopardizing funds for health care, education, law enforcement, disaster relief, infrastructure, and more. On January 28, Attorney General Jennings and attorneys general from 22 other states sued to immediately stop the enforcement of the OMB policy and preserve trillions of dollars in essential funding.

While the administration has attempted to rescind the policy, states and organizations that receive federal funding continue to experience major disruptions. Following OMB’s issuance of the policy, Medicaid funds in multiple states were frozen. Head Start programs across the country were cut off from funds, leading some childcare centers to close. Despite the District Court for the District of Columbia’s stay, disruptions to critical funds continued across the country.

The lawsuit, filed by the coalition Tuesday, argued that the Trump administration’s memo violates the U.S. Constitution and federal law by creating new conditions on funding that has already been awarded. On Wednesday, only hours before an initial hearing in this case, the President hastily rescinded the memo, but public messaging both by the White House Press Secretary and on the White House’s official X account indicated that the funding freeze was still in effect. The states argued that rescinding the memo without unfreezing funding was an attempt by the administration to evade the lawsuit. Indeed, during the hearing, a lawyer for the Department of Justice argued that since the memo had been rescinded, the states no longer had standing to sue. The Court, Judge John J. McConnell presiding, called this a “distinction without a difference,” and asked the parties to submit a proposed order for his review.

Today, the Court, Judge John J. McConnell presiding, announced the temporary restraining order, agreeing with the states that the President overstepped his authority by overriding policy choices made by Congress and has violated his obligation to execute the laws passed by Congress by refusing to spend the money Congress has appropriated. Judge McConnell, in his order, stated, “Congress has not given the Executive limitless power to broadly and indefinitely pause all funds that it has expressly directed to specific recipients and purposes and therefore the Executive’s actions violate the separation of powers.”

Joining Delaware in the lawsuit were the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.