"Here, the executive put itself above Congress," a federal judge wrote, issuing a preliminary injunction barring the Trump administration from freezing federal assistance.

A second federal judge indefinitely blocked President Trump’s blanket freeze on federal grants and loans, saying the administration “put itself above Congress.” U.S. District Judge John McConnell’s preliminary injunction in favor of Democratic state attorneys general adds to a near-identical block imposed by a federal judge in the nation’s capital late last month.