Democratic attorneys general are taking aim at President Donald Trump’s attempt to align federal funding with his policy goals.
Letitia James of New York and Rob Bonta of California announced Tuesday that they will file a lawsuit targeting a Monday memo from the Office of Management and Budget that could hamstring billions of dollars allotted by Congress for energy and environmental agencies, among others.
“There is no question this policy is reckless, dangerous, illegal and unconstitutional,” James said during a press conference Tuesday afternoon.
The pause takes effect at 5 p.m., and agencies have been instructed to provide OMB “detailed information” on affected programs by Feb. 10.
The states’ lawsuit — which will also be joined by the attorneys general of at least three other states — will request an immediate court order to block OMB’s freeze.
“We will not stand for any illegal policy that puts essential services for millions of Americans at risk,” James said.
Legal experts say that the funding pause — which also faces a lawsuit from nonprofit groups — runs afoul of the Constitution and federal law and is unsupported by Supreme Court precedent.
In a follow-up memo issued Tuesday and obtained by POLITICO, OMB attempted to clarify the limits of the pause. The White House said it is calling only for a temporary pause that would not violate the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act, which protects Congress’ power to appropriate funds.
Legal experts say even a temporary withholding — or “impoundment” — of funds breaks the law and that aligning spending with an administration’s policy agenda is not a permissible reason for impoundment under the statute.
The memo said the freeze does not apply across the board and is intended to be limited to programs, projects and activities related to seven Trump executive orders, including his directives on “Unleashing American Energy,” “Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements” and “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing.”
Bonta said during Tuesday’s press conference that he believes the lack of information about affected programs is intended to have a chilling effect on federal action.
“The ambiguity, the lack of precision is by design,” he said.
The states’ lawsuit against OMB is their second legal action against the Trump administration in the two weeks since the new president took office.
James recalled that the states won most of their challenges against Trump during his first term.
“We won 80 percent of our cases,” she said, “and we are prepared to do it again.”
