A federal judge has ruled that President Donald Trump’s administration cannot use a White House budget office regulation to terminate federal grants it determined no longer align with priorities adopted after the funding was awarded.
In a July 17 memorandum and order, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston declared that the regulation does not allow agencies to cancel grants based on new program goals or agency priorities introduced after an award was made.
Talwani granted partial summary judgment to officials representing 23 Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia, who had accused the Trump administration of mounting an “unprecedented and unlawful” campaign to terminate billions of dollars in congressionally appropriated federal funding that the states deemed “critical.”…