A second federal judge has extended a block barring the Trump administration from freezing grants and loans potentially totaling trillions of dollars. U.S. District Court Judge John McConnell in Rhode Island on Thursday granted a request for a preliminary injunction from nearly two dozen Democratic states. Last month, the White House said it’d temporarily halt federal funding to ensure the payments complied with President Donald Trump’s orders barring diversity programs. The judge says the executive branch was trying to put itself above Congress. Government lawyers argued the court lacks the constitutional authority to block a funding pause by the Republican administration. A U.S. District Court judge in Washington has also extended an order blocking the funding freeze.
