A federal appeals court in Massachusetts has rebuffed the Trump administration’s emergency bid to revive its hold on federal funds and grants.
The unanimous Tuesday decision from the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals follows a string of temporary restraining orders issued by a federal judge in Rhode Island, who on Monday warned Trump officials that they risk being held in contempt of court if they do not restore funding appropriated under the Inflation Reduction Act and other statutes.
Three 1st Circuit judges wrote in their unsigned order that they are confident that Chief Judge John McConnell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island “will act with dispatch” on the administration’s claims that the judge has barred the president and federal agencies from “exercising their own lawful authorities to withhold funding.”
McConnell, an Obama appointee, on Wednesday morning reaffirmed his restraining orders and denied the administration’s request to continue withholding funds for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other purposes.
