Second federal judge issues temporary order blocking Trump spending freeze

by Jennifer Shutt, Louisiana Illuminator
February 3, 2025

WASHINGTON — A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order Monday, blocking the Trump administration from implementing a spending freeze on grant and loan programs that was outlined in a memo released last week, but has since been rescinded.   

Judge Loren L. AliKhan of the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia became the second federal judge to issue such an order, following a ruling Friday from Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr. of the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island.

“Defendants’ actions in this case potentially run roughshod over a ‘bulwark of the Constitution’ by interfering with Congress’s appropriation of federal funds,” AliKhan wrote in the 30-page ruling.

“OMB ordered a nationwide freeze on pre-existing financial commitments without considering any of the specifics of the individual loans, grants, or funds,” she added. “It did not indicate when that freeze would end (if it was to end at all). And it attempted to wrest the power of the purse away from the only branch of government entitled to wield it.”

AliKhan also denied a motion from a Department of Justice attorney to dismiss the case, rejecting the idea that OMB rescinding the memo truly ended the freeze.

“Destroying the paper trail of allegedly illegal activity means nothing if the activity persists,” she wrote.

AliKhan issued an administrative stay in the case last week, though that expired on Monday at 5 p.m. Eastern. The two cases are expected to play out in the weeks and months ahead.

Legal fight erupted after OMB memo

The lawsuit, National Council of Nonprofits v. Office of Management and Budget, was filed in late January by several organizations one day after OMB issued the memo announcing the spending freeze on grants and loans.

Kevin Friedl, one of the attorneys representing the organizations, said during a 90-minute hearing Monday that while OMB has rescinded the memo, there are still examples of organizations that are unable to access a payment portal or receive funding from that portal.

Department of Justice attorney Daniel Schwei argued that any funding still paused is likely on hold due to one of President Donald Trump’s executive orders and not the OMB memo that led to the lawsuit.

Schwei also said that DOJ believes individual federal departments and agencies have the “discretion” to halt federal spending that Congress has already approved.

Friedl said there were numerous examples of funding still frozen that didn’t appear connected to any of Trump’s executive orders. And he told the judge there was “no evidence” that the ongoing funding freeze is the result of independent discretion from agency leadership.

Leavitt social media post

Friedl referenced a social media post from White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, where she wrote that revoking the OMB memo was “NOT a rescission of the federal funding freeze.”

“It is simply a rescission of the OMB memo,” Leavitt wrote. “Why? To end any confusion created by the court’s injunction.”

“The President’s EO’s on federal funding remain in full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented,” Leavitt added.

Friedl said during Monday’s court hearing that it was clear the Trump administration’s decision to rescind the OMB memo was meant to “get out from under” the administrative stay Judge AliKhan issued last week.

Schwei disagreed that Leavitt’s social media post showed the Trump administration was seeking to skirt the judge’s previous administrative stay.

Schwei urged Judge AliKhan not to issue a temporary restraining order, saying it would be duplicative, given the ruling from the Rhode Island federal judge. But, he said, that if she were to issue a temporary restraining order, it should be limited to the organizations that filed the lawsuit.

Those organizations include the American Public Health Association, Maine Street Alliance, National Council of Nonprofits and SAGE.

‘Power of the purse’ with legislators, judge says

Judge AliKhan didn’t appear to do that in her temporary restraining order.

AliKhan wrote that “(a)s evidenced by the White House Press Secretary’s statements, OMB and the various agencies it communicates with appear committed to restricting federal funding.”

“If Defendants retracted the memorandum in name only while continuing to execute its directives, it is far from ‘absolutely clear’ that the conduct is gone for good,” AliKhan wrote. “There is nothing stopping OMB from rewording, repackaging, or reissuing the substance of memorandum M-25-13 if the court were to dismiss this lawsuit.”

AliKhan rejected the Trump administration’s belief that it holds the ability to cancel spending approved by Congress, writing that its “actions appear to suffer from infirmities of a constitutional magnitude.”

“The appropriation of the government’s resources is reserved for Congress, not the Executive Branch. And a wealth of legal authority supports this fundamental separation of powers,” she wrote. “The legislature’s ‘power of the purse is the ultimate check on the . . . power of the Executive.’”

AliKhan also criticized how the Office of Management and Budget went about implementing its proposed spending freeze through a memo issued about 24 hours before the pause in grant and loan funding was set to start.

“If Defendants intend to conduct an exhaustive review of what programs should or should not be funded, such a review could be conducted without depriving millions of Americans access to vital resources,” AliKhan wrote.

The Trump administration, she wrote, could have taken “a measured approach to identify purportedly wasteful spending,” but chose instead to “cut the fuel supply to a vast, complicated, nationwide machine—seemingly without any consideration for the consequences of that decision.”

“To say that OMB ‘failed to consider an important aspect of the problem’ would be putting it mildly.”

Last updated 6:30 p.m., Feb. 3, 2025

Louisiana Illuminator is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Louisiana Illuminator maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Greg LaRose for questions: info@lailluminator.com.

SUMMARY: At a recent meeting, Louisiana education officials discussed the Flying Classroom, a national initiative aimed at enhancing STEM learning for students and teachers. Daphne Flentroy from the Louisiana Department of Education noted this program’s integration into professional development for nonpublic educators. Participation in afterschool STEM programs has risen, with 77% offering such opportunities, up from 67% in 2014. A recent session involved hands-on experiments in aerodynamics and aerospace. Flentroy emphasized the importance of collaborative efforts among educators to expand these initiatives, while also addressing funding strategies to maximize the impact of STEM programs statewide.

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Cade Cole becomes Louisiana’s newest Supreme Court justice without opposition

by Julie O’Donoghue, Louisiana Illuminator
February 3, 2025

State tax Judge Cade Cole will automatically become the newest member of the Louisiana Supreme Court after being the only candidate to sign up last week for an election to fill the court’s open seat. He will represent District 3, which stretches from Calcasieu Parish to Caddo Parish.

At 42 years old, Cole will be the youngest of the seven justices on the bench. The court’s elected terms last 10 years, but judges are not allowed to run for the office again once they reach the age of 70. 

In an interview Sunday, the incoming justice said his swearing-in date hadn’t been scheduled yet.

The Calcasieu Parish resident is a Republican and member of the Federalist Society, a conservative legal organization that is a powerhouse in national GOP politics.

At home in Louisiana, Cole has been a behind-the-scenes operator in state judicial elections, federal judicial appointments, political redistricting and tax policy.

“We need to defend the constitution,” Cole said of the state Supreme Court’s role in government. “It’s not our job to be a super legislature. … We need to stay in our lane.”

Since 2013, Cole has been Louisiana’s part-time state and local tax judge, where he rules on tax disputes and is one of three members of the Board of State Tax Appeals. Cole was initially appointed to the job by former Gov. Bobby Jindal and then reappointed by former Gov. John Bel Edwards. 

The incoming justice also works as an attorney for local municipalities. He is the city attorney for Sulphur and Vinton and was the city magistrate of DeQuincy, where Cole grew up. He also helps cities, parishes and school boards draw their political districts as a contract lawyer.

“He’s one of the brightest individuals I’ve ever known,” said Sulphur Mayor Mike Danahay. “We’re very pleased that he’s been elected.”

A graduate of Tulane University Law School, Cole worked as an assistant district attorney in Calcasieu Parish, where he said he focused on appellate cases.

He received widespread support and endorsements for his supreme court candidacy from several elected officials in the district he will represent on the court.

“I’ve tried to work hard and be fair to everybody, Republicans and Democrats,” he said. 

Attorney General Liz Murrill formally endorsed Cole and Gov. Jeff Landry’s political action committee, CAJUN PAC II, donated $5,000 to his campaign. 

Calcasieu Parish District Attorney Stephen Dwight also said he happily supported Cole in the race.

“He’s well respected by both sides [of the political spectrum],” said Dwight, a Republican. “I think he will hit the ground running.”

Cole is the second justice to join the Louisiana Supreme Court since its political boundaries were redrawn last spring for the first time in over 30 years. The new district lines moved the base of power of his seat from Shreveport to Lake Charles, where Cole lives and works. 

When asked if he helped draw the new Supreme Court map that helped get him elected, Cole replied “not really” and said the map was the product of the justices’ own proposal and changes state lawmakers made.

“The court drew it, and the legislature changed it in a lot of material respects,” he said. “It’s fair to say that I watched it like many other people.” 

The latest map created a new majority-Black district and led to the election of the second Black justice to the seven-person court. John Michael Guidry, a longtime state appellate judge and former Democratic state lawmaker, was sworn into that seat last month. 

More than 30% of Louisiana’s population identifies as Black, and Cole said he was pleased the Supreme Court political districts were more “reflective of the state population as a whole.”

Cole replaces Justice James Genovese, who stepped down in July after he was picked as the new president of Northwestern State University with the backing of the governor. At the time, Genovese’s job swap raised questions about whether Landry was trying to stack the court with political allies.

Cole said he does not have a personal relationship with the governor, though the two are both active in Republican circles.

Cole also served as a member of the Northwestern State presidential search committee that eventually recommended Genovese for the higher education  job.

Cole said he was picked for the presidential search committee not because of his interest in the Supreme Court seat but because he is considered a state expert in financing college athletics. He helped set up a collective for McNeese State University that leverages name image and likeness deals for college athlete recruitment.

“I’ve been involved in other presidential searches for the UL System,” he said.

Since Genovese stepped down, retired Justice Jeannette Theriot Knoll has been filling in on the Supreme Court in his absence. Cole worked as a law clerk for Knoll at the Supreme Court early in his legal career and said he expects the transition between the two judges to be smooth.

Louisiana Illuminator is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Louisiana Illuminator maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Greg LaRose for questions: info@lailluminator.com.