Attorney General Raúl Torrez and Multistate Coalition Secure Court Order Blocking Trump Administration

A federal district court in Rhode Island issued a preliminary injunction ordering the Trump administration to reinstate funding for essential government services for a range of programs including, but not limited to, public safety, environmental safety, child welfare, energy development, healthcare, and emergency management services. This decision is the latest victory secured by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez and a coalition of 22 other attorneys general challenging President Trump’s unlawful attempts to disregard federal law and circumvent Congress.

“In this country it is Congress, not the President, who gets to decide what departments to create and how taxpayers’ money is spent,” said Attorney General Raúl Torrez. “If President Trump wants to cut funding for American farmers, cancer research, early childhood education, services for combat veterans or FEMA, then he needs to convince his allies in Congress to pass a budget that aligns with those priorities. In the meantime, I will continue to fight for the right of every American to access these critical government programs, to uphold the rule of law and defend the constitution.”

In granting the states’ request for a preliminary injunction, Judge John J. McConnell, concluded that the Trump administration’s “categorical freeze of appropriated and obligated funds fundamentally undermines the distinct constitutional roles of each branch of our government. The interaction of the three co-equal branches of government is an intricate, delicate, and sophisticated balance—but it is crucial to our form of constitutional governance. Here, the Executive put itself above Congress.

The court also noted that “the Executive’s discretion to impose its own policy preferences on appropriated funds can be exercised only if it is authorized by the congressionally approved appropriations statutes.”

The coalition filed the motion for preliminary injunction, its second, on Friday, February 28, for enforcement in its ongoing lawsuit against the Trump administration’s illegal and destructive freeze of federal funding. Despite multiple court orders, the Trump administration has continued to block hundreds of millions of dollars in grants to the states, including critical funding for FEMA.

New Mexico joins 21 additional states in the lawsuit, led by California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island. Additional states joining the lawsuit include Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.

Funding Freeze Preliminary Injunction

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