A federal judge has sharply rebuked the Trump administration for unlawfully concealing executive branch spending decisions from the public, rejecting what he called an “extravagant and unsupported theory” about presidential power.
In a 60-page ruling issued Monday, Senior U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ordered the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to restore public access to its apportionment database, which the administration had taken offline in March without public notice. The judge declared that the move violated laws passed by Congress requiring transparency in how federal funds are allocated.
“Defendants are therefore required to stop violating the law!” Sullivan wrote, punctuating his order with an exclamation mark.
The case stems from a lawsuit filed in April by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and the Protect Democracy Project. Represented by Public Citizen Litigation Group, the plaintiffs argued that OMB—under the leadership of Director Russell Vought—illegally dismantled the “Public Apportionments Database” in defiance of a 2022 law signed by then-President Joe Biden. That law mandates that federal apportionment decisions be made publicly accessible within two days via an online database.
The Trump administration justified taking the site offline by claiming that the disclosure requirement was an unconstitutional infringement on executive authority. But Sullivan dismissed that argument outright.
“Relying on an extravagant and unsupported theory of presidential power,” he wrote, “Defendants claim that their apportionment decisions… cannot be publicly disclosed because they are not final decisions about how to administer the spending of public funds. However, the law is clear: Congress has sweeping authority to require public disclosure of how the Executive Branch is apportioning the funds appropriated by Congress.”
Sullivan emphasized that there is “nothing unconstitutional” about requiring transparency in how taxpayer dollars are allocated.
The apportionment database was initially created in the wake of President Trump’s first impeachment in 2019, which centered on the alleged withholding of U.S. military aid to Ukraine in exchange for political favors. Though Trump was acquitted, Congress later codified the requirement for OMB to publicly disclose apportionments to prevent future misuse of funds.
The judge granted partial summary judgment to the plaintiffs and denied the administration’s request for a stay pending appeal—though he did allow a brief administrative stay until 10:00 a.m. on July 24, giving the government time to appeal the ruling to the D.C. Circuit.
Legal experts celebrated the decision.
“The law is clear that the federal government must make its appropriations decisions public,” said Adina Rosenbaum, an attorney with Public Citizen. “The administration must follow the law.”
Nikhel Sus, deputy chief counsel at CREW, called the ruling “thorough and well-reasoned,” adding that “Americans have a right to know how taxpayer money is being spent.”
As of now, the Trump administration has not publicly commented, but an appeal is expected.
