The restraining order, along with a similar directive by another judge from Friday, amounted to a rebuke of the move as an overreach that likely lacked legitimate authority.

President Donald Trump’s administration rushed to clarify a memo pausing federal grants, loans, and financial assistance, saying that the instructions from the White House budget office were not intended as an “across-the-board” freeze.

A federal judge on Thursday said he stood ready to enforce an order he issued blocking U.S. President Donald Trump's administration from freezing federal grants, loans and other financial assistance after Democratic-led states said billions of dollars in funding was still being tied up.