Sharing the Facts About Unlawful Attempts to Freeze Federal Funds

In the American system, the federal government works in partnership with states to serve the people. The Constitution gives Congress the power to decide how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars, appropriating money to the states for essential services. Since taking office in 2025, however, President Trump has overstepped his authority, repeatedly attempting to withhold funding from states that was already approved by Congress. He does not have that power.

On his first day in office, Trump issued a series of executive orders attempting to freeze federal funding. A week later, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memo that halted money flowing to the states for a variety of critical programs and services, including for children, seniors, and veterans.

A group of attorneys general from 22 states and the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration to block it from freezing any money. Judges have repeatedly ordered the administration to stop its attempts to halt funding for essential services.

Nevertheless, the administration has continued its attempts to freeze federal funding, leading to uncertainty and disruptions to services that support people across the country.

In some cases, it is only making federal funds available to state and local governments that comply with administration policies—mainly conditioning funding on cooperation with federal immigration policy and enforcement operations. The Justice Department published a list of more than 30 states, cities, and counties that it identified as having policies conflicting with the administration’s stance. OMB also launched a review in early 2026 of all funding for 14 states.

In other cases, the administration is using federal funding as a tool to wage political battles, including in Colorado, where the president is using disaster funding as leverage to get the state to release his ally, Tina Peters, from prison. Peters is a former county clerk convicted of participating in a security breach of election equipment.

The continuing freeze of federal assistance has left critical services for Americans such as Medicaid, job training, and unemployment benefits hanging in the balance. It has also left state officials without the clarity they need to take care of the people they represent and plan for the future.

But state officials have continuously fought back against these freezes in court.

Courts have repeatedly held that the Trump administration does not have the power to freeze funds Congress has already allocated to the states.

On Feb. 10, 2025, U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell Jr. ordered federal agencies to “immediately restore withheld funds,” and to comply with his previous. McConnell wrote that the sweeping freeze of federal funds is “likely unconstitutional and has caused and continues to cause irreparable harm to a vast portion of this country.”

“The interaction of the three co-equal branches of government is an intricate, delicate, and sophisticated balance—but it is crucial to our form of constitutional governance,” McConnell wrote. “Here, the Executive put itself above Congress.”

McConnell isn’t alone. Over the course of the first year of Trump’s second term, judges across the country blocked the administration from freezing funding and have lambasted officials for attempting to circumvent constitutional checks and balances.

The Trump administration’s attempt to go around Congress, refusal to comply with court orders, and false and concerning statements that the judicial system cannot check executive power present a direct threat to our democracy.

Here are some key takeaways about the harms Americans are facing from the administration’s ongoing interference with federal funding:

• Everyday Americans are paying the price for the administration’s overreach.
  • Parents are worried about losing childcare due to Head Start cuts, community health clinics are laying off staff, job training programs are being canceled, Americans’ energy costs are in jeopardy, and farmers are watching bills pile up—all because of an unconstitutional power grab.
  • From big cities to rural areas, Americans of all stripes are being impacted.
  • These spending cuts only exacerbate the financial strain felt by so many as costs rise amid economic uncertainty.
• State officials are on the front lines of this fight, on behalf of the people.
  • They were elected to focus on serving the people of their states, not be bogged down with responding to unlawful actions by the federal government.
  • The unauthorized cuts could rip funds away from states and limit their ability to protect and serve the people they represent.
  • They’re now stepping up to defend the rule of law in our country and ensure that people continue to benefit from critical programs and services.

Here are some key takeaways about the Trump administration’s overreach that’s disrupting funding appropriated by Congress:

• Courts have repeatedly held that the executive branch may not continue their attempt to freeze federal funding. They don’t have that authority.
  • Congress, not the executive branch, allocates federal funding.
  • Despite court orders, congressionally approved federal assistance is still being withheld from organizations and state governments.
• The executive branch cannot disregard and defy the legislative and judicial branches.
  • The executive branch must respect Congress’s authority to determine how federal funds are spent. And they must comply with orders from federal judges.
  • At the same time, the president and vice president have made concerning statements about judges not being allowed to curtail the president that should raise the alarm about their intentions.
• All of our leaders have a role to play in making government work for the American people. That includes everyone from the president and his appointees to the officials who govern our states and communities.
  • We have a constitutional system of checks and balances in place to stop any one branch of government from seizing the powers given to another branch. That’s how we make sure our government is delivering for the people in every community. But the system only works when people in positions of power respect checks and balances.