New York Attorney General Letitia James is taking legal action against the Trump administration following its abrupt decision to freeze nearly all federal grants and loans Monday evening.
The freeze, announced through a vague memo from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), has sparked nationwide confusion, threatening critical programs that provide support to low-income families, veterans, and public safety initiatives.
James, a Democrat and outspoken critic of former President Donald Trump, announced her intent to file a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court, seeking a temporary restraining order to halt the freeze.
“My office will be taking imminent legal action against this administration’s unconstitutional pause on federal funding,” James said in a social media post. “We won’t sit idly by while this administration harms our families.”
The OMB memo directed federal agencies to “temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance” but offered little clarity on which programs would be affected.
A separate document from OMB requested details on more than 2,600 federal programs, including:
- School meals for low-income students
- WIC nutrition programs for pregnant women and infants
- Wildfire preparedness under the Department of Interior
- Medicare enrollment assistance
- USAID foreign assistance
- Mine safety inspections
- Reintegration programs for homeless veterans
This broad freeze has already raised alarms across Congress, state programs, and nonprofit organizations, many of which rely on uninterrupted federal funding to operate.
James has condemned the administration’s decision as “reckless and dangerous.” “This freeze is a direct threat to the well-being of countless New Yorkers and Americans across the country,” James said.
James has a history of challenging Trump’s policies and actions, both during his presidency and in his private business dealings. Notably, she sued his administration multiple times over issues including immigration, environmental protections, and healthcare policies. She also successfully fought against Trump’s attempt to include a citizenship question on the Census, a case that reached the U.S. Supreme Court.
In her role as attorney general, James has also pursued Trump’s business practices, securing a civil fraud judgment against him, his company, and top executives. That judgment, now exceeding $500 million with interest, is currently under appeal.
