Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought is one of 12 federal agency directors named in a new federal lawsuit filed by Democratic state attorneys general contesting abrupt funding cuts to state governments, research institutions, universities and nonprofits. Photo by Andrew Harnik | Getty Images
Five words.
That’s the basis on which 20 Democratic attorneys general, including Arizona’s Kris Mayes, and one state governor, are contesting sweeping cuts to federal grants and aid in a new lawsuit against the Trump administration. The 80-page complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts on Tuesday centers on how the Trump administration has interpreted a five-word section of federal regulations to rationalize a “nationwide slash-and-burn campaign,” abruptly terminating billions in already awarded funding to state and local governments, research institutions, universities and more.
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The full, 2020 rule promoted by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget states that federal agencies can cut off grants “pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Federal award, including, to the extent authorized by law, if an award no longer effectuates the program goals or agency priorities.” OMB made clear that federal agencies can only terminate grants when there is evidence that the money is not achieving its intended goals or that there is cause to “significantly question” feasibility of achieving the goal.
But Trump’s administration in a Feb. 26 executive order selectively picked five words from the regulation “no longer effectuates…agency priorities” — to justify abrupt cuts to federal aid.
“In effectuating this directive, Agency Defendants now assert—for the first time— that the Clause means something completely new: That the Clause permits agencies to terminate grant awards when the agency simply changes its mind,” the lawsuit states.
Since the initial order authorizing the Department of Government Efficiency to get involved in federal agency grant distributions, the same phrase has featured prominently in subsequent orders, agency memos and explanations for slashing billions of dollars in aid to a wide host of recipients across the country.
Defendants
- U.S. Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought
- U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins
- U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick
- U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth
- U.S. Secretary ofHomeland Security Kristi Noem
- U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi
- U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer
- U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin
- Acting Federal Emergency Management Agency Director David Richardson
- Acting National Endowment for Humanities Chairman Michael McDonald
- Acting National Science Foundation Director Brian Stone
“The Trump Administration’s slash-and-burn approach to federal grant funding has left Arizona communities scrambling to pick up the pieces. From infrastructure projects to job training programs to research at our universities, these cuts are devastating and unlawful,” Mayes said in a written statement. “President Trump cannot illegally and arbitrarily rip away funding Arizonans rely on and we’re fighting back in court to hold the administration accountable under the law.”
The complaint, which names a dozen federal agency heads as defendants, offers a litany of examples of the consequences of abrupt cuts to already awarded federal grants and aid: losing habitat restoration in Maine, ending efforts to combat hate crimes in New Jersey, ceasing shelter programs for migrants in Illinois released from overcrowded federal detention centers and cutting off research of air quality risks from wildfire smoke in rural Nevada.
“With the stroke of a pen, federal agencies have deprived States of critical funding they rely on to combat violent crime and protect public safety, equip law enforcement, educate students, safeguard public health, protect clean drinking water, conduct life-saving medical and scientific research, address food insecurity experienced by students in school, ensure access to unemployment benefits for workers who lose their jobs, and much more,” the lawsuit states.
In Arizona, the cuts include three U.S. Department of Labor grants to the Arizona Department of Economic Security that led the state agency to lay off 500 workers, more than $8 million in funding from the Environmental Protection Agency for the Board of Regents and more.
Even federal aid still flowing remains at risk, compromising safety and support to people who qualify for food assistance programs and those who live in flood zones, farmers, minority students, scientists, and more, the lawsuit states.
Arguing that the federal administration’s actions violate the Administrative Procuredures Act, the AGs have asked a federal judge to permanently clarify that federal regulations do not grant federal agencies “unfettered power” to terminate funding already awarded. Or, as an alternative, they have asked a judge to toss the Trump administration’s interpretation of the clause in question. The request, if granted, would apply to all existing and future federal grants.
Natalie Baldassarre, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Justice, which is representing the federal agencies, declined to comment on the lawsuit in an email Tuesday.
In addition to Mayes, the other AGs who filed the complaint represent California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is also representing his state in the case.
Rhode Island Current is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Rhode Island Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janine L. Weisman for questions: [email protected].
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