SEATTLE (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from imposing new conditions on hundreds of millions of dollars worth of mass transit grants for the Seattle area or homelessness services grants for Boston, New York, San Francisco and other local governments.
The new conditions were designed to further President Donald Trump's efforts to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion policies; coerce local officials into assisting with the administration's mass deportation efforts; and cut off information about lawful abortions, according to the lawsuit filed last week by eight cities and counties.
The administration argued that Senior U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein in Seattle did not have jurisdiction over the lawsuit because it was essentially a contract dispute that should have been brought in the Court of Federal Claims — an argument the judge rejected.
Rothstein wrote that the local governments had shown they were likely to win the case, because the conditions being imposed on the grants had not been approved by Congress, were not closely related to the purposes of the grants and would not make the administration of the grants more efficient.
“Defendants have put Plaintiffs in the position of having to choose between accepting conditions that they believe are unconstitutional, and risking the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grant funding, including funding that they have already budgeted and are committed to spending,” Rothstein wrote.
Her order blocks U.S. Housing and Urban Development and the Federal Transportation Administration for 14 days from enforcing the new grant conditions or withholding or delaying funding awarded under the grants. The local jurisdictions said they would seek a longer-term block in the meantime.
The Trump administration did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
King County, which includes Seattle, sued over changes to grant conditions for homelessness services as well as mass transit funding that helps pay for maintenance of the region's light rail system. Boston and New York, Pierce and Snohomish Counties in Washington, the city and county of San Francisco, and Santa Clara County in California all sued over the changes to homelessness services grants.
“Today’s ruling is a positive first step in our challenge to federal overreach," King County Executive Shannon Braddock said in a statement. "We will continue to stand up against unlawful actions to protect our residents and the services they rely on.”
The conditions highlighted in the plaintiff's restraining order motion included barring grant recipients from using the funding in a way that promotes “illegal immigration or abets policies that seek to shield illegal aliens from deportation.” Another condition bars them from using the funding to “promote elective abortions.”
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AP reporter Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed to this report.
Gene Johnson, The Associated Press
