A federal appeals court on Saturday ordered the Trump administration to restore a public database showing how federal funding is apportioned.
The administration disabled the database in March as it stared down several lawsuits challenging funding freezes, claiming Congress’s mandate to make the data public infringed on President Trump’s core executive authority.
“To hear the Government tell it, the separation of powers hangs in the balance and only this Court can set things right. But when it comes to appropriations, our Constitution has made plain that congressional power is at its zenith,” U.S. Circuit Judge Karen Henderson wrote.
The order to restore the database takes effect Friday, though the administration could still attempt to seek emergency relief from the Supreme Court.
The Justice Department declined to comment.
The three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit was unanimous in its ruling.
An appointee of former President George H. W. Bush, Henderson was the panel’s sole judge appointed by a Republican president. She was joined by Robert Wilkins, an appointee of former President Obama, and Brad Garcia, an appointee of former President Biden.
Henderson decried the administration in her 25-page statement, which Wilkins joined. It began with a reference to an English Civil War in the 17th century between the Stuart monarchs and Parliament.
“By the end of the upheaval, Parliament emerged supreme in matters of taxation and spending. Our Constitution followed suit, granting the Congress plenary control over the public fisc,” Henderson wrote.
“Recently, the Executive has once again locked horns in a struggle for control over the purse strings.”
Two private groups that regularly sue the Trump administration, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and Protect Democracy, challenged the takedown in April. They cited two recent congressional spending deals that require the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to make apportionment decisions publicly available within two business days.
“They will be deprived of information that the Founding generation—from Franklin to Jefferson to Madison to Mason—all thought vital to our Republic,” Henderson wrote in her ruling.
Trump has faced bipartisan pressure to restore the tracker, but the administration contends it contains sensitive information that could pose a national security threat. The Justice Department also argued the two groups have no right to sue, and the requirement to post the data is unconstitutional.
The administration’s appeal to the D.C. Circuit came after U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled last month that the administration must restore the database.
The D.C. Circuit halted the ruling as it considered the administration’s request for a longer pause. Saturday’s ruling lasts until the court resolves the appeal, which will now proceed in normal course.
This story was updated at 11:37 a.m.
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