Trump-appointed judge orders Trump admin to ‘turn the funding spigots back on’

The Trump administration has made no secret that it dislikes disbursing money authorized by Congress under the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. But on Tuesday, a federal judge issued an order “requiring the agencies to turn the funding spigots back on.” Under President Donald Trump, federal agencies have used his executive orders to justify withholding congressionally authorized grants and contracts, many of which had already been awarded. But U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy, who Trump appointed during his first term, said the administration’s actions were “neither reasonable nor reasonably explained.” “The broad powers that [Office of Management and Budget], the [National Economic Council] Director, and the five Agencies assert are nowhere to be found in federal law,” McElroy wrote. In addition to Office of Management and Budget and the National Economic Council, five federal agencies are being sued by just as many plaintiffs. The EPA, for example, is ... Read full article.