U.S. President Donald Trump speaks on the day he signs documents as he issues executive orders and pardons for January 6 defendants in the Oval Office at the White House on Inauguration Day in Washington, U.S., Jan. 20, 2025.
Carlos Barria | Reuters
A federal judge on Tuesday paused until next week the implementation of a Trump administration order that would have frozen the issuance of existing federal grants and loans.
Judge Loren AliKhan’s ruling during a hearing conducted on Zoom came just minutes before the freezing order was set to take effect at 5 p.m. ET. At stake are funds potentially worth trillions of dollars.
AliKhan said her administrative stay of the order would expire at 5 p.m. on Monday unless she decides to grant a temporary restraining order as requested by plaintiffs who filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging the Trump administration’s action.
The judge scheduled a hearing for Monday morning for arguments on the requested TRO in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.
The Department of Justice had objected to the administrative stay.
AliKhan’s stay only affects the disbursement of government funds that already have been authorized, not money that was being sought.
The judge ordered the hearing within hours of the filing of the suit challenging the order, and as the Medicaid reimbursement portal system went offline in what several senators said they believed was a reaction to the Trump administration’s order.
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