AG Brown releases statement on First Circuit decision upholding block on Trump administration funding freeze

Attorney General Nick Brown today released the following statement after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit largely upheld a lower court order blocking the Trump administration's illegal effort to categorically freeze trillions of dollars in essential federal funding to states:

"I'm glad the court agrees that this unprecedented attempt to freeze federal assistance for Washington was illegal," Brown said. "We've filed over 50 cases against the administration since this one, but my message remains the same: Follow the damn law."

In January 2025, Brown joined a coalition of 22 other attorneys general in suing to stop the implementation of a new federal policy that would have categorically withheld trillions of dollars in essential funding, impacting a vast array of important public services that states provide. In March 2025, the coalition won a preliminary injunction blocking the policy, and today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit largely affirmed that order.

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