2025-32 – AG ANNE LOPEZ JOINS MOTION FOR ENFORCEMENT OF COURT ORDER STOPPING TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S FEDERAL FUNDING FREEZE

 

STATE OF HAWAIʻI

KA MOKU ʻĀINA O HAWAIʻI

 

DEPARTMENT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

KA ʻOIHANA O KA LOIO KUHINA

 

JOSH GREEN, M.D.
GOVERNOR

KE KIAʻĀINA

 

ANNE LOPEZ

ATTORNEY GENERAL

LOIO KUHINA

 

ATTORNEY GENERAL ANNE LOPEZ JOINS MOTION FOR ENFORCEMENT OF COURT ORDER STOPPING TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S FEDERAL FUNDING FREEZE

 

News Release 2025-32

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                       

February 28, 2025

 

HONOLULU – Attorney General Anne Lopez today joined a coalition of 22 other attorneys general in filing a second motion for enforcement in its ongoing lawsuit against the Trump administration’s illegal and destructive freeze of federal funding. Despite multiple court orders, the administration has continued to block hundreds of millions of dollars in grants to the states from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). This funding freeze threatens critical emergency preparedness and recovery programs to address wildfires, floods, cybersecurity threats, and more.

 

“The Trump administration continues to interfere with access to federal funds despite multiple court orders,” said Attorney General Lopez. “We will not allow any noncompliance with court orders to go unchallenged. My top priority is always to ensure Hawai‘i residents have access to the services and programs to which they are legally entitled.”

 

Attorney General Lopez and the coalition sued the administration over the freeze on January 28, and on January 31, the court granted the attorneys generals’ request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) blocking implementation of the freeze until further order from the court. On February 7, Attorney General Lopez and the coalition filed motions for enforcement and a preliminary injunction to stop the illegal freeze and preserve federal funding relied upon by families, communities, and states. On February 8, the court granted the motion for enforcement, ordering the administration to immediately comply with the TRO and stop freezing federal funds.

 

Despite the TRO, the coalition has found that the administration continues to withhold essential funding, and that states, grantees and programs are continuing to experience a significant lack of access to funds, putting lives and jobs at risk. The funding that remains frozen includes hundreds of millions of dollars in FEMA grants to essential state programs that are responsible for wildfire prevention response, cybersecurity, flood mitigation and emergency management.

 

Attorney General Lopez and the coalition’s second motion for enforcement, filed today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, seeks a court order requiring the release of funds if the Trump administration is unable to provide the court with evidence that they have been unfrozen and made available to recipients.

 

Attorney General Lopez is joined in this motion by the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia. 

 

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Media contacts:

Dave Day

Special Assistant to the Attorney General

Office: 808-586-1284                                                  

Email: [email protected]        

Web: http://ag.hawaii.gov

 

Toni Schwartz
Public Information Officer
Hawai‘i Department of the Attorney General
Office: 808-586-1252
Cell: 808-379-9249
Email: [email protected] 

Web: http://ag.hawaii.gov