Attorney General James Wins Case Blocking Trump Administration’s Attacks on Essential Services

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James and a coalition of 20 other attorneys general and the governors of Kansas, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania today won their lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s claim that it has broad authority to cut billions of dollars in grant funds that support essential services throughout the country. The administration has used a single clause buried in Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidelines that states that federal agencies can terminate a grant if it “no longer effectuates the program goals or agency priorities” as an excuse to cancel billions of dollars of funding to states. The administration has used this clause to justify cuts to programs supporting law enforcement, environmental protection, food assistance, and more. The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts today granted Attorney General James and the coalition’s motion for summary judgment, ruling that the administration cannot cancel grant funding based on new ideological priorities using this clause.  

“This administration has spent the past year and a half trying to slash vital funding that keeps people safe, helps working families make ends meet, protects our environment, and much more,” said Attorney General James. “Today, a court upheld the rule of law and put an end to their flimsy justification for these dangerous cuts. This decision is another victory for our Constitution.”  

At the start of the Trump administration in 2025, federal agencies, along with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employees assigned to them, began using the OMB clause to terminate grants on a massive scale. The administration slashed billions of dollars in funding for states on the grounds that federal agency priorities have changed since the grants were awarded. The Department of Justice used the OMB regulation to pull funds for state law enforcement to combat hate crimes. The Environmental Protection Agency terminated funding to research new ways to eliminate “forever chemicals” from drinking water. In New York, the Department of Agriculture cut a program to connect communities facing food insecurity with local farms that provide high-quality produce. 

Attorney General James and the coalition sued the Trump administration in June 2025, arguing that no administration has ever used OMB’s guidance this way and that federal agencies do not have the power to cut funding on a whim based on new “agency priorities” that did not exist when the grants were made. The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts today ruled in favor of Attorney General James and the coalition, finding that the administration does not have the power to use the OMB clause to justify sweeping funding cuts with new agency priorities.  

Joining Attorney General James in this lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia, along with the governors of Kansas, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania.