‘Won’t Sit Idly By’: Donald Trump to Face Letitia James Again—After She Crushed Him In Court—As New York AG Targets His Federal Spending Freeze

Democratic leaders in several states are gearing up to fight President Donald Trump’s order to freeze federal funding and target trillions of dollars that directly finance federal assistance programs.

On Monday, the Trump administration released a memo ordering federal agencies to pause “all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance.”

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) later clarified that the freeze is “expressly limited to programs, projects, and activities implicated by the President’s Executive Orders, such as ending DEI, the Green New Deal, and funding nongovernmental organizations that undermine the national interest.”

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A judge ruled that former President Donald Trump (left) committed fraud by inflating the net worth of several of his assets as part of the civil case brought against him by New York Attorney General Letitia James (right). (Photo: Getty Images)

The directive sounded alarms for many Americans, including federal workers, already on edge from the administration’s crusade to phase out all DEI programs, offices, and jobs in the government.

Now, several state attorneys general, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who called the order “reckless and dangerous,” are preparing to sue the administration to challenge the order’s constitutionality.

“My office will be taking imminent legal action against this administration’s unconstitutional pause on federal funding,” James wrote on X. “We won’t sit idly by while this administration harms our families.”

James already took Trump to court for civil fraud, which resulted in a multi-million dollar judgement against the president. She was named a political adversary for bringing the case against him, and after his 2024 election victory, she pledged to challenge any retribution attempts his new administration might make against her office or the state of New York, including withdrawing federal funding.

“The president does not get to decide which laws to enforce and for whom. When Congress dedicates funding for a program, the president can not pull that funding on a whim,” James said at a press conference on Tuesday, calling the federal funding freeze an “illegal order.”

She added that the forthcoming lawsuit “will seek a court order to immediately stop the enforcement” of Trump’s order in order to preserve essential funding for Americans.

“This decision is lawless, dangerous, destructive, cruel. It’s illegal, it’s unconstitutional,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said. “Plain and simple, this is Project 2025. Project 2025 by another name.”

Trump’s order —  which U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan temporarily blocked just minutes before it was set to go into effect Tuesday afternoon — stated that programs like Medicaid and SNAP would be excluded as well as funds for small businesses, farmers, Pell grants, Head Start, and rental assistance.

“The guidance establishes a process for agencies to work with OMB to determine quickly whether any program is inconsistent with the President’s Executive Orders. A pause could be as short as a day,” the order reads.

Politicians from across the country are also contesting the order, noting that the repercussions will be far-reaching for millions of Americans even though the White House is understating its scale.

Trillions of dollars pour into health care and anti-poverty programs, education, disaster relief, housing assistance, infrastructure, and more each year, initiatives that touch every corner of nearly every American’s life.

The National Council of Nonprofits, the American Public Health Association, the Main Street Alliance for small businesses, and the LGBTQ advocacy nonprofit SAGE also filed a lawsuit against the OMB and requested a federal court in D.C. to issue a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to bar the agency from enforcing the order.

“From pausing research on cures for childhood cancer to halting food assistance, safety from domestic violence, and closing suicide hotlines, the impact of even a short pause in funding could be devastating and cost lives,” Diane Yentel, president and CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits, said in a statement. “This order could decimate thousands of organizations and leave neighbors without the services they need.”

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