Very quickly after President Donald Trump's Office of Management and Budget ordered a freeze on federal grants, U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan issued a temporary pause on the order, leaving funding in place until at least next week as other litigation against the policy proceeds.
The pause of the funding freeze, which experts widely believe to be illegal and which threw hundreds of federal agencies and grant-funded non-governmental organizations like Meals on Wheels into chaos and uncertainty, triggered a sigh of relief and mockery of Trump from lawmakers and other commenters on social media — but did not quite tamp down worries about what might be on the horizon for this fight.
"Trump lost round one. But this fight is not over," wrote Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) in a post on X. "We can't lose focus of what's at stake. The GOP is playing golf & eating nice appetizers at his fancy club in Florida right now, brainstorming how to steal from everyday people & cut taxes for the rich. We must not give up."
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"This is what happens when you let AI write your Executive Orders," wrote Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA).
"Throwing healthcare, food assistance, childcare, veteran services, public safety, and other critical programs into chaos today and setting off a constitutional crisis. It’s only day 8," wrote Allison Russo, the Democratic leader in the Ohio House of Representatives.
"This is welcome news because the impact just for the City of New Orleans is staggering ... potentially several hundred million dollars!" wrote New Orleans City Council President Helena Moreno.
"Can this guy competently do anything according to law?" wrote conservative attorney Heath Mayo. "He’s wasting half his time on things that are illegal and won’t even hold up. Even if you voted for his agenda, at some point you have to be frustrated that he and his team can’t seem to figure out how to do any of it."
"The freezing of federal funds will impact farmers, young mothers, school children, the elderly, college students, police officers, firefighters, disaster victims, victims rights groups, construction workers, and so many more," wrote the Tennessee Young Democrats. "The President can’t order the shutdown of Government funding with the stroke of a pen. Congress is the only branch that gets to do that."
"This is a win — but it doesn't change the continuing threat we face," wrote Public Citizen. "Medicaid portals were shut down for multiple hours today. People feared they would lose critical aid. This wasn’t a false alarm. It was a sign of what’s to come from Trump's presidency."
