Fourth Circuit Poised to Send Grant Freeze Cases to Claims Court

A Fourth Circuit panel appeared to agree with the Trump administration Thursday that a series of grant cancellations should be resolved as simple contract disputes in the US Court of Federal Claims despite recipients’ assertions that their cases challenge agencies’ unlawful or unconstitutional actions.

During oral arguments in the first of two separate cases, Judge Paul V. Niemeyer called the separation of powers arguments over whether agency officials overreached in terminating congressionally appropriated funds “almost academic.”

At the same time, Judge Allison Jones Rushing said there’s “no way around” the Administrative Procedure Act’s waiver of sovereign immunity for these kinds ...