US court blocks Trump from shutting three federal agencies

A federal judge on Tuesday blocked US President Donald Trump’s administration from firing workers and taking other steps to shut down federal agencies that fund museums and libraries, mediate labour disputes and support minority-owned businesses.

District Judge John McConnell in Providence, Rhode Island, agreed with 21 mostly Democrat-led states that Trump’s March executive order directing that the agencies effectively be wiped out violated the US constitution.

“This executive order ... ignores the unshakeable principles that Congress makes the law and appropriates funds, and the executive implements the law congress enacted and spends the funds congress appropriated,” wrote McConnell, an appointee of former President Barack Obama.

The judge halted Trump’s order from being implemented at the US Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Minority Business Development Agency, and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service pending the outcome of the case.

McConnell did not order the agencies to take any specific steps, but told the states to consult with the Trump administration and submit a more detailed order for his approval.

Trump in his order directed that those agencies and four others be reduced “to the minimum presence and function required by law”. A judge in Washington, DC last week had separately blocked the museum and library agency from being shut down.

The White House and the office of Rhode Island attorney-general Peter Neronha, which is leading the lawsuit, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Trump’s executive order was part of his broader effort to dramatically shrink the federal government and slash government spending. Tens of thousands of federal workers have been fired, placed on leave indefinitely or accepted payouts to leave their jobs.

Almost all employees at the three agencies involved in Tuesday’s case were placed on administrative leave shortly after Trump issued his executive order, according to court filings.

The states in their case filed in April say that because Congress created the agencies and set their funding levels, Trump had no power to order that their work be halted.

McConnell on Tuesday agreed. Federal law includes a mechanism for the president to return unneeded funding to Congress, the judge said, but Trump failed to follow that process.

State libraries and museums have abandoned programmes and stopped hiring new staff, business development offices are curbing training and other support programmes, and state agencies have fewer options to mediate disputes with unions, McConnell said.

Reuters