Executive Branch Funding Order Subject of Judicial Branch Review

Anne T. Sulton, Ph.D., J.D.
JA Senior International Correspondent

On Monday February 3, 2025, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget
(a part of the executive branch of the federal government) will learn whether the
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (a part of the judicial branch of the
federal government) will permit the executive branch to enforce its order affecting
funding laws passed by Congress (the legislative branch of the federal
government).

On January 27, 2025, the executive branch issued an order, known as OMB
M-25-13, requiring some recipients of federal funds to complete and return a form
asking several questions about their program operations. Among the questions
asked are:
 Does this program provide Federal funding to nongovernmental
organizations supporting or providing services, either directly or
indirectly, to removable or illegal aliens?
 Does this program promote gender ideology?
 Does this program provide funding that is implicated by the directive to
end discriminatory programs, including illegal DEI and “diversity, equity,
inclusion, and accessibility” (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs,
preferences, and activities, under whatever name they appear, or other
directives in the same EO, including those related to “environmental
justice” programs or “equity-related” grants?

The executive branch order also prohibits these recipients of federal funds
from spending the money they received that the legislative branch allocated for the
recipients to do their work. This part of the executive branch order has been
referred to as a “pause” on spending the money the legislative branch authorized be
spent.

On January 28, 2025, a coalition of private organizations (the National
Council of Nonprofits, the American Public Health Association, Main Street
Alliance, and Sage) filed a lawsuit against the executive branch asking the judicial
branch to stop the executive branch from “pausing” the spending of public funds
the legislative branch earmarked for the organizations to do their work. The lawsuit
also seeks “a temporary restraining order enjoining the Office of Management and
Budget and its Acting Director Matthew Vaethe from implementing or enforcing
its January 27, 2025, Memorandum entitled ‘Temporary Pause of Agency Grant,
Loan, and Other Financial Assistance Programs’ until the Court can further
consider the merits.”

According to the lawsuit, known as Case # 1:25-cv-00239, some of the
organizations adversely affected by the executive branch order provide services to
the most vulnerable. For example, the National Council of Nonprofits says: “Many
of NCN’s members rely on federal grants and financial assistance to serve their
missions, from supporting research and services to those with cancer and other
serious diseases, to assisting people in escaping domestic violence, to providing
mental health care and suicide hotlines. Federal grants and financial assistance are
the lifeblood of operations and programs for many of these nonprofits, and even a
short pause in funding—which, for many NCN members, is already in the
pipeline—could deprive people and communities of their life-saving services.”

A complete copy of this lawsuit can be found on the Jackson Advocate
website.

Stay tuned. The court’s decision is expected Monday, February 3, 2025.