The Daily Fuckup

A federal judge in Rhode Island ruled on February 10, 2025, that the Trump administration had not fully complied with an earlier temporary restraining order blocking a broad federal funding pause. Judge John J. McConnell Jr. said the government had to immediately restore frozen funding, end the pause, and take steps to carry out the court’s order. ([storage.courtlistener.com](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.rid.58912/gov.uscourts.rid.58912.96.0_2.pdf))

The ruling did not start the fight. It enforced a January 31 restraining order that had already barred the administration from pausing obligations or disbursements based on the Office of Management and Budget directive and related executive actions. In the February 10 order, McConnell said the states challenging the policy had shown some agencies were still freezing funds or refusing to resume payments. ([storage.courtlistener.com](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.rid.58912/gov.uscourts.rid.58912.96.0_2.pdf))

The order told the government to clear administrative, operational and technical hurdles that were keeping money from moving. It also required the administration to restore withheld funds, including money appropriated under the Inflation Reduction Act and the infrastructure law, while the underlying case continued. ([storage.courtlistener.com](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.rid.58912/gov.uscourts.rid.58912.96.0_2.pdf))

The administration appealed the district court’s orders the same day, including the January 31 temporary restraining order, the February 6 extension and the February 10 enforcement order. The First Circuit later declined to put the lower-court ruling on hold, leaving the spending freeze blocked for the moment. ([storage.courtlistener.com](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.rid.58912/gov.uscourts.rid.58912.98.0_1.pdf))