RI, Mass. Sue Trump Administration Over Freeze in Federal Funding

The U.S. Office of Management and Budget issued a memo describing a temporary pause in federal grant, loan and other financial assistance programs

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell speaks at a press conference in Boston on June 8, 2023.
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell speaks at a press conference in Boston on June 8, 2023.
Credit: Jodi Hilton / Special to The Public’s Radio
Share
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell speaks at a press conference in Boston on June 8, 2023.
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell speaks at a press conference in Boston on June 8, 2023.
Credit: Jodi Hilton / Special to The Public’s Radio
RI, Mass. Sue Trump Administration Over Freeze in Federal Funding
Copy

Attorneys General Peter Neronha of Rhode Island and Andrea Campbell of Massachusetts have joined a coalition of other AGs in suing the Trump Administration over its sudden freeze in federal spending via grants, loans and other avenues.

“What a ham-handed way to run the government,” Neronha said at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.

In total, attorneys general from 22 states and Washington, D.C. joined the lawsuit, which was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island on Tuesday. They described the executive branch’s freezing of federal funds as “unconstitutional,” “unlawful” and “reckless.”

“The president’s directive to pause federal aid, simply put, violates the separation of powers,” Campbell said. Massachusetts, she said, received more than $20 billion in federal funding last year.

This story was reported by The Public’s Radio. You can read the entire story here.

Former Rhode Island House Speaker Joe Shekarchi hopes to land on the Rhode Island Supreme Court
A conservation effort based at South Kingstown’s Trustom Pond National Wildlife Refuge is helping American oystercatchers rebound along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, even as rising seas threaten their nesting grounds
The proposed RENT program would pay landlords up to $3,000 on behalf of struggling tenants, but councilors want safeguards against rent hikes and evictions
Gov. McKee faces an increasingly steep slope
Some clinician-researchers are building platforms to educate people about chatbots’ strengths and weaknesses, and developing AI bots that are meant to deliver therapy
The RI AFL-CIO, which helped McKee narrowly defeat Foulkes in 2022, declined to back either candidate in their Democratic primary rematch