New federal court ruling requires the Administration to continue funding grants and contracts until additional analysis can be completed

On Friday, January 31, the District Court of Rhode Island issued a temporary restraining order in response to a lawsuit filed by Democratic Attorneys General. The order related to the OMB Memo of January 27 and prevents the Administration from pausing federal funding that goes "through" to the 22 states and the District of Columbia that requested the temporary restraining order. The order does not apply to the 28 states that were not part of the lawsuit.

Grantees in all states are covered by an earlier court ruling, issued by a district court in Washington, D.C., on January 28, that halts the pausing of federal funding until 5 p.m. EST on Monday, February 3, 2025.

The order requires the Administration to continue complying with all grants and contracts to these states and entities, including non-profits, in these states:

• Arizona
• California
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• District of Columbia
• Hawaii
• Illinois
• Maine
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Nevada
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• New York
• North Carolina
• Oregon
• Rhode Island
• Vermont
• Washington
• Wisconsin

Afterschool programs, summer learning programs, and contractually hired technical assistance providers in these 22 states will continue to receive federal funding, regardless of whether it is through a formula grant (such as 21st Century Community Learning Centers or Title I), a block grant (such as the Child Care Development Block Grant, a grant awarded by an agency like the Department of Labor, or the National Science Foundation), or an earmarked appropriation.

The restraining order permits the Administration to continue to review grants and contracts, but notes that it can only stop payments after showing that the termination does not violate any terms of the authorizing law that created the expenditure, the regulatory regime, and/or terms of the grant or contract.

The Afterschool Alliance will continue to share information on these cases and Executive Orders. Please note the situation is constantly evolving.

The Executive Orders that the White House has asked agencies to apply to funding decisions can be found on the White House’s website – they include orders around DEI programs. The National Council of Non-Profits is tracking how executive orders impact the non-profit community.