A judge’s order blocking the Trump administration’s spending freeze is “intolerable judicial overreach,” the Department of Justice (DOJ) argued Monday night.
The DOJ appealed Judge John J. McConnell, Jr.’s block on the spending freeze to the First Circuit Court of Appeals, writing that a judge “cannot oversee the Executive Branch’s spending authority for several weeks and shield its order from appeal by labeling it a temporary restraining order.”
“This appeal arises from an extraordinary and unprecedented assertion of power by a single district court judge to superintend and control the Executive Branch’s spending of federal funds, in clear violation of the Constitution’s separation of powers,” the filing states. “To put a halt to this intolerable judicial overreach, this Court should stay the orders under review pending disposition of this appeal, and should enter an immediate administrative stay of the orders until the motion for stay pending appeal is resolved.”
The administration objected that the government “must now go to the district court for preclearance” on the lawful activity of “delaying the issuance of funding that has been tainted by fraud.”
The judge held Monday that the administration was violating his prior order and suggested continued opposition could result in criminal contempt charges.
McConnell donated hundreds of thousands to Democrat campaigns and groups before becoming a judge, including to Democratic Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, who recommended his nomination, according to Federal Election Commission records.
The issue stems from a lawsuit filed Jan. 28 by nearly two dozen democratic attorneys general, who challenged an Office of Management and Budget memo directing agencies to pause payments for activities impacted by Trump’s executive orders.
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