Federal judge blocks President Trump’s freeze on federal spending from taking effect until Feb 3, as 22 states sue over the policy

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Federal spending freeze latest

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(KSTP) — On Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced a freeze on federal spending, a sweeping measure that impacts many programs in Minnesota.

But that freeze is now on pause. Tuesday afternoon, a federal judge blocked the freeze from taking effect until Monday, Feb. 3 at 5 p.m. CT.

Tuesday afternoon, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced at a press conference that 22 states, including Minnesota, are filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration for this action to freeze federal spending.

Last week, Ellison was also part of a 21-state lawsuit seeking to block Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship.

“I do not sit around looking for ways to sue Donald Trump, but in the eight days he’s been in office, he’s made it, he’s forced me to figure out ways to sue him almost every day,” said Ellison.

Governor Walz said the federal spending freeze would cut off funding for law enforcement, farmers, schools, childcare, veterans, and healthcare.

The League of Minnesota Cities issued the following statement on Trump’s executive orders:

“Since taking office on Jan. 20, President Donald Trump has issued several executive orders and taken other actions that have prompted questions from city staff and leaders about potential impacts on city operations including, most recently, distribution of federal funding. The League of Minnesota Cities (LMC), along with our federal partner organization the National League of Cities (NLC), is closely monitoring and analyzing these developments as they apply to our municipal members. LMC will continue to provide updates for our cities on the implications of the executive orders and actions as they become more clear.”