Three appellate court judges sided with federal Judge John J. McConnell Jr. in Rhode Island. The sweeping funding freeze will be blocked until the Trump administration’s full appeal is heard.

The U.S. Agency for Global Media cannot “force RFE/RL to shut down,” the judge wrote, “even if the President has told them to do so.”

A court order blocking US President Donald Trump's freeze on trillions of dollars in government financial assistance will remain in place for now, a federal appeals court said.

From the start of his second term, President Donald Trump and his administration signaled a willingness — even a desire — to flout the law in their quest to overhaul the federal government. And while the wheels of justice turn slowly, less than two months later a procession of judges have already ruled the administration has done exactly that.

A U.S. judge declined on Wednesday to step aside from a lawsuit challenging Donald Trump's order targeting law firm Perkins Coie after his administration accused her of bias in this and other cases involving the Republican president.

Judge James Boasberg will preside over a case alleging that Trump administration officials violated federal record-keeping laws when they used Signal to discuss military plans.