Breaking News: Donald Trump’s administration ordered to lift block on payments to health agency…..Read More

Federal judge tells White House to unlock billions in funding for clean energy projects earmarked under Inflation Reduction Act

A federal judge has ordered Donald Trump’s administration to immediately lift a block on payments to the US’s premier medical research institute, and to unlock billions of dollars in funding for clean energy projects.

John McConnell on Monday reiterated the White House’s attempt to freeze federal funds was “likely unconstitutional” and said several states had shown evidence that the Trump administration was continuing to withhold certain funds in violation of a previous order, singling out payments to the National Institutes of Health.

The order is the latest in a series of legal blows to the administration’s early policy efforts. Over the weekend, a federal judge in New York barred emissaries from the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) and political appointees from entering the Treasury’s sensitive, multitrillion-dollar payments system.

In a separate case on Friday, another judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking the US Agency for International Development from placing thousands of staff on leave, and instructed it to reinstate those put on leave. Six USAID employees from around the world on Monday sought a further court order, claiming they still did not have access to agency systems.

In a separate case on Friday, another judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking the US Agency for International Development from placing thousands of staff on leave, and instructed it to reinstate those put on leave. Six USAID employees from around the world on Monday sought a further court order, claiming they still did not have access to agency systems.

A court last week also postponed a deadline for millions of civil servants to accept a redundancy package, originally set for last Thursday.

However, in a separate case on Monday, a federal judge denied a request from labour groups for Doge representatives to be pre-emptively barred from accessing US Department of Labor system

In the payments case, McConnell last month imposed a temporary restraining order, arguing that the states had presented sufficient evidence that “they will probably suffer severe and irreparable harm” if the court had not granted their request to prevent the funding freeze.

“This administration’s reckless plan to block federal funding has already caused chaos, confusion and conflict throughout our country,” said Letitia James, the attorney-general in New York, one of the states that brought the case, after McConnell imposed the temporary orde

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The White House later rescinded the freeze, but states, including New York, claimed billions of dollars in federal funding was still being withheld, especially those related to green energy projects under former president Joe Biden’s flagship Inflation Reduction Act.

James on Monday joined 21 other state attorneys-general in a separate lawsuit against the Trump administration for attempting to slash grant funding to universities and research institutions across the country.

The case focuses on new guidance the NIH released, which said it would from Monday cut “indirect” support to such institutions to 15 per cent from a current average of 27 per cent. The funding covers the administrative costs of research projects.