Connecticut Attorney General William Tong has joined a multistate lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s alleged misuse of a federal regulation to cut funding from numerous programs. The lawsuit, filed June 24 in the District of Massachusetts, names the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and several federal departments as defendants.
At the center of the dispute is an OMB rule that allows the president to terminate federal grants if they no longer support “agency priorities.” Tong and 20 other attorneys general argue that Trump has used this provision to slash funding arbitrarily, bypassing Congress and hurting essential services like education, healthcare, and public safety.
“There is no ‘because I don’t like you’ or ‘because I don’t feel like it anymore’ defunding clause in federal law,” Tong said. “We’re taking aim today to stop his repeated illegal misuse of an OMB regulation to punish states and hurt American families.”
The lawsuit alleges:
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Federal grants have been unlawfully terminated with little or no notice.
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Federal agencies have cut their own funding and support to other programs without proper legal authority.
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A February executive order directed mass terminations of grants under this provision, often without warning or explanation.
In addition to the OMB, the lawsuit targets the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Homeland Security, Justice, Labor, and State, along with the EPA, FEMA, and the National Science Foundation.
The attorneys general seek a legal ruling to clarify how the disputed clause should be interpreted and used in the future. They argue that federal funds appropriated by Congress cannot be rescinded at the president’s discretion, and that Trump’s approach undermines the constitutional balance of power.
This is the latest in a series of legal challenges led by state attorneys general opposing Trump administration policies they view as overreaching or unlawful.
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