Second US judge extends block preventing freeze on funding
Judge John McConnell granted the request for a preliminary injunction from nearly two dozen Democratic states.
A second federal judge has extended a block barring the Trump administration from freezing grants and loans potentially totalling trillions of dollars.
US district court judge John McConnell in Rhode Island, who had already approved a temporary restraining order on the funding freeze, on Thursday granted the request for a preliminary injunction from nearly two dozen Democratic states.
Last month, the White House said it would temporarily halt federal funding to ensure that the payments complied with President Donald Trump’s orders barring diversity programmes.
Government lawyers argued the court lacks the constitutional authority to block a funding pause by the Republican administration.
