Do you know farmers who aren’t getting the funds they were promised by the federal government for things like environmental improvements or new production capacity? Have you heard about nonprofits forced to stop work on valuable funded by the federal government? Farm Commons knows these farmers. Farm Commons itself has been ordered to stop work on three of our projects to increase access to farm law information.

The lack of financial resources is burdensome enough, but for us as attorneys, it’s especially galling because it violates the law. “The broad categorical and sweeping freeze of federal funds is, as the court found, likely unconstitutional and has caused and continues to cause irreparable harm to a vast portion of this country,” states Judge John J. McConnell Jr in his order dated February 10 in New York v. Trump. When an action is likely illegal, and it causes harm, the court system may step in with a Temporary Restraining Order to halt the action until legal review can occur. That’s exactly what happened in this lawsuit.

But the problem is that federal funding isn’t being restored in many cases, despite the Judge’s order.

Stop, or I’ll say stop again! That’s basically what Judge McConnell Jr. is saying. Courts themselves are fundamentally just rooms, people, and pieces of paper. Their effectiveness depends entirely on an implicit agreement by a nation that we collectively agree to abide by our nation’s legal system. Now, we are witnessing what happens when the bounds of that trust are pushed.

Indeed, the law isn’t always just, and good things have happened throughout history by ignoring the court’s dictates. Certainly, the Trump administration feels the benefits of rooting out fraud outweigh the risks of ignoring the court’s order. The administration also feels that its actions will be vindicated when the court ultimately supports its actions. (See the court order.) But under the system we have, an action must stop if it’s enjoined by a restraining order while the matter makes its way to resolution.

So where does this end? The court could find the administration to be in contempt of court. That could ultimately result in jail time for the Secretary of the USDA with respect to that agency’s failure to respect the restraining order by reinstating funding. Then, could the Trump administration then pardon that Secretary for the offense? The answer is, possibly, yes.

These sorts of situations lay bare the extent to which we, as a society, depend on a mutual agreement to respect the law of the land when it comes to business. As reflected upon in our other article for this issue of the Sprout, that mutual dependency is also a part of so many business arrangements. When we write a lease together, when we give money for services… we are depending on our mutual respect to carry us forward. The courts are nothing other than the system we arrived at to support our mutual agreements in business.

This realization can be sobering as well as inspiring. Our human connections and responsibilities to each other are the utmost, and that’s as much a challenge as it is an opportunity.

If you are looking for the comfort of community and a dash of Farm Commons’ legal perspective around the federal funding freeze and its effects, please join us! We are hosting a conversation forum on Wednesday, February 26, 2025, at 11 AM CT, and we would love for you to join us. To register for the event, please click here.