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Press Release:

Con­necti­cut Sues to Stop Trump Admin­is­tra­tion from With­hold­ing Essen­tial Fed­er­al Fund­ing

Preceding Event:

The Office of Man­age­ment and Bud­get (OMB) issued direc­tive “M‑25–13” on Jan. 27, 2025 which direct­ed all fed­er­al agen­cies to indef­i­nite­ly pause the major­i­ty of fed­er­al assis­tance fund­ing and loans to states and oth­er enti­ties begin­ning at 5 p.m. on Jan. 28, 2025.

“Finan­cial assis­tance should be ded­i­cat­ed to advanc­ing Admin­is­tra­tion pri­or­i­ties, focus­ing tax­pay­er dol­lars to advance a stronger and safer Amer­i­ca, elim­i­nat­ing the finan­cial bur­den of infla­tion for cit­i­zens, unleash­ing Amer­i­can ener­gy and man­u­fac­tur­ing, end­ing ‘wok­e­ness’ and the weaponiza­tion of gov­ern­ment, pro­mot­ing effi­cien­cy in gov­ern­ment, and Mak­ing Amer­i­ca Healthy Again,” the mem­o­ran­dum said. “The use of Fed­er­al resources to advance Marx­ist equi­ty, trans­gen­derism, and green new deal social engi­neer­ing poli­cies is a waste of tax­pay­er dol­lars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve.”

General Overview:

Accord­ing to the press release from Jan. 28, 2025, “Attor­ney Gen­er­al William Tong today joined a coali­tion of 22 attor­neys gen­er­al suing to stop the imple­men­ta­tion of a new Trump admin­is­tra­tion pol­i­cy that orders the with­hold­ing of tril­lions of dol­lars in fund­ing that every state in the coun­try relies on to pro­vide essen­tial ser­vices to mil­lions of Amer­i­cans… Attor­ney Gen­er­al Tong and the coali­tion of attor­neys gen­er­al are seek­ing a court order to imme­di­ate­ly stop the enforce­ment of the OMB pol­i­cy and pre­serve essen­tial fund­ing.”

In the law­suit the coali­tion of plain­tiffs stat­ed they are seek­ing relief under the Admin­is­tra­tive Pro­ce­dure Act and said that the pol­i­cy and with­hold­ing of funds already allo­cat­ed is uncon­sti­tu­tion­al.

Date of filing:

Jan. 28, 2025

Case #:

1:25-cv-00039

Case title:

State of New York et al v. Trump et al.

Plaintiffs: 23 states

• STATE OF NEW YORK;
• STATE OF CALIFORNIA;
• STATE OF ILLINOIS;
• STATE OF RHODE ISLAND;
• STATE OF NEW JERSEY;
• COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS;
• STATE OF ARIZONA;
• STATE OF COLORADO;
• STATE OF CONNECTICUT;
• STATE OF DELAWARE;
• THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA;
• STATE OF HAWAI’I;
• STATE OF MAINE;
• STATE OF MARYLAND;
• STATE OF MICHIGAN;
• STATE OF MINNESOTA;
• STATE OF NEVADA;
• STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA;
• STATE OF NEW MEXICO;
• STATE OF OREGON;
• STATE OF VERMONT;
• STATE OF WASHINGTON;
• STATE OF WISCONSIN

Defendants:

• DONALD TRUMP, IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES;
• U.S. OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET;
• MATTHEW J. VAETH, IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS ACTING DIRECTOR OF THE U.S. OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET;
• U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY;
• SCOTT BESSENT, IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY;
• PATRICIA COLLINS IN HER OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS TREASURER OF THE U.S.; U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES;
• DOROTHY A. FINK, M.D., IN HER OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS ACTING SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES;
• U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION;
• DENISE CARTER, IN HER OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS ACTING SECRETARY OF EDUCATION;
• U.S. FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY;
• CAMERON HAMILTON, IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS ACTING ADMINISTRATOR OF THE U.S. FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY;
• U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION;
• JUDITH KALETA, IN HER OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS ACTING SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION;
• U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR;
• VINCE MICONE, IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS ACTING SECRETARY OF LABOR;
• U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY;
• INGRID KOLB, IN HER OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS ACTING SECRETARY OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY;
• U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY;
• JAMES PAYNE, IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS ACTING ADMINISTRATOR OF THE U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY;
• U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY;
• KRISTI NOEM, IN HER CAPACITY AS SECRETARY OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY;
• U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE;
• JAMES R. McHEN­RY III, IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE;
• THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION and
• DR. SETHURAMAN PANCHANATHAN, IN HIS CAPACITY AS DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

Court:

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF RHODE ISLAND

Status as of Dec. 1, 2025:

OPEN
Last fil­ing: Aug. 22, 2025

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