President Donald Trump's administration suffered a legal setback last week when a federal judge halted its attempt to pause federal aid spending.

That wasn't the White House's only defeat, as another judge also blocked its plans just three days later. 

Twenty-two states sought restraining order

According to NBC News, that decision was rendered on Friday by Rhode Island's U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell.

At issue was an Office of Management and Budget (OMB) memo issued on Monday directing federal agencies to "temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance, and other relevant agency activities that may be implicated by the executive orders, including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal."

McConnell stated that the "action unilaterally suspends the payment of federal funds to the States and others simply by choosing to do so."

Social media post from White House press secretary cited as evidence

NBC News noted how Justice Department lawyers maintained that the case is moot since the memo in question was rescinded two days after it was sent.

However, McConnell rejected their contention since "the evidence shows that the alleged rescission of the OMB Directive was in name-only."

To support his conclusion, the judge pointed to a social media post put up on Wednesday by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

This is NOT a rescission of the federal funding freeze.

It is simply a rescission of the OMB memo.

Why? To end any confusion created by the court's injunction.

The President's EO's on federal funding remain in full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented.

— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) January 29, 2025

"This is NOT a rescission of the federal funding freeze. It is simply a rescission of the OMB memo. Why? To end any confusion created by the court's injunction," she wrote.

Judge says states "are likely to succeed" in their case

McConnell wrote, "Based on the Press Secretary’s unequivocal statement and the continued actions of Executive agencies, the Court finds that the policies in the OMB Directive that the States challenge here are still in full force and effect and thus the issues presented in the States' TRO motion are not moot."

NBC News pointed out that McConnell's order went "a bit further" than that issued by Judge AliKhan as it asserted that the states "are likely to succeed on the merits of some, if not all, their claims."