| A federal judge said Wednesday he intends to issue a new block on President Donald Trump's effort to freeze an enormous swath of federal spending, citing the White House's contradictory signals about the policy. U.S. District Judge Jack McConnell said a bid by the White House to rescind a "hugely ambiguous" order implementing the freeze appeared to be undercut by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt's subsequent statement that the freeze was still in effect. "I'm inclined to grant the restraining order," McConnell, a Rhode Island-based appointee of President Barack Obama, said during a court hearing on a lawsuit brought Tuesday by Democratic attorneys general. "I fear … that the administration is acting with a distinction without a difference." Read the latest
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