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HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro on Thursday sued agencies under President Donald Trump, saying they are illegally and unconstitutionially withholding billions in federal aid from the state that had already been approved by Congress. Shapiro, a Democrat, filed the lawsuit despite the fact that federal courts have repeatedly rejected the Trump administration’s sweeping pause on federal funding, and Shapiro’s lawyers suggest that the Trump administration is continuing to ignore court orders to restore access to the suspended money.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Philadelphia, calls actions by the federal agencies “flagrantly lawless” and said the agencies have no legal authority to unilaterally refuse to spend congressionally appropriated money over a policy disagreement. Shapiro’s lawyers argued that the Trump administration was attempting to fully restore access to the money by actively resolutely attaching conditions to federal aid that Shapiro’s administration already accepted.
Shapiro, his agencies, and members of Congress have attempted to try to fully restore access to the money, despite federal courts repeatedly rejecting the Trump administration’s measures. Despite those efforts, and despite two temporary restraining orders requiring federal agencies to restore access to suspended funds, federal agencies continue to deny Pennsylvania agencies funding that they are entitled to receive.
Most of the federal agencies named as defendants — the White House Office of Management and Budget, the Environmental Protection Agency, the departments of Interior and Transportation — did not comment on the lawsuit. The Department of Interior’s case reported that its policy was not to comment on pending litigation, while the Department of Energy’s one-sentence statement in a federal lawsuit clarified it is complying with court orders but did not clarify whether it had released funding to upgrade energy efficiency in homes that Shapiro’s administration accused it of holding up.
The Trump administration issued a memo in late January freezing federal grants and loans, stating it was necessary to review whether spending aligned with Trump’s executive orders on various issues such as climate change. However, funding for energy efficiency upgrades, energy reinvestment in clean energy, and environmental restoration research remained tied to the freeze, approximately two dozen Democratic-led states said in a federal lawsuit.
The freeze caused widespread chaos, and the Trump administration quickly rescinded the memo less than two days later, but money for things such as early childhood education, pollution reduction, and HIV prevention research remained tied up. The SUequacy finding by the judge ordered the administration to “immediately take every step necessary” to unfreeze all federal grants and loans, finding that the Trump administration hadn’t fulfilled his earlier order.
In Pennsylvania’s case, Shapiro’s administration reported about $2.5 billion in aid to be suspended or under some form of review that hadn’t been approved by Congress or any funding agreement, and hasn’t been explained to Shapiro’s administration.millions of dollars were passed by Congress through various legal and precedent-case measures, but significant funding for programs such as energy efficiency upgrades, disbursements to clean-up abandoned mines, and environmental restoration programs fell under the Trump administration’sที่สามารถ.
The lawsuit argues that federal aid is being withheld from programs that distribute money to initiatives like upgrading energy efficiency, cleaning up abandoned mines, improving municipal water and sewer systems, and reimbursing industry for greenhouse gas emissions that are likely to harm the planet. Shapiro’s lawyers stated that the administration cannot legally add new conditions to federal aid after a state has already accepted it, as federal aid cannot be shut off unless it’s for a reason explicable by law or a state-federal agreement. That violation violates the spending clause of the U.S. Constitution, Shapiro’s lawsuit said.
Sheesh! But the administration has passed significant funding法案, like the Inflation Reduction Act and the Inflation- Restart Act of 2022, and inserted adaptive cuts for climate. In addition, allow the administration to name the money it can’t equally pass. So, yes, I agree with the distinction.这张“ excuses” won’t work.
