President Trump’s luck looks to be changing in the Ninth Circuit in California after a judge agreed that he could withhold funding to California’s law enforcement departments after they became a Sanctuary State. Judge William Orrick claimed yesterday  that there was no precedent to force the government into releasing the funds.

Speaking at the ruling, Judge Orrick had the following to say:

“Given the number of open questions concerning the federal government’s positions concerning the provisions of the statutes in question, the relatively minimal injury its delay has caused thus far, and the extraordinary nature of the relief sought, I deny the state’s motion without prejudice,”

Orrick concluded in saying

“At the moment, the merits of the state’s constitutional claim are uncertain and its injury is the delay of a $1 million grant,” Orrick wrote. “While delay in funding is potentially injurious, the amount is not so great that the state could not cover it while the litigation continues.”

The irony here is that it was of course Judge Orrick who first blocked the withholding of funds, suggesting that nobody was above the law back in 2017. Regarding that particular ruling Judge Orrick wrote this.

“The Constitution vests the spending powers in Congress, not the President, so the Executive Order cannot constitutionally place new conditions on federal funds. Further, the Tenth Amendment requires that conditions on federal funds be unambiguous and timely made; that they bear some relation to the funds at issue; and that they not be unduly coercive,” the judge wrote. “Federal funding that bears no meaningful relationship to immigration enforcement cannot be threatened merely because a jurisdiction chooses an immigration enforcement strategy of which the President disapproves.”

President Trump and his battle with California looks as though it will continue for some time to come, and this wrangling for unpaid funding will also rumble on for some time.

There will be no resolution to this situation in California any time soon because of the sheer number of points and precedents which are being used in the case. Each section and article is being argued and fought to the Nth degree and as we all know, that takes an awful lot of time.

California may very well regret making an enemy of the President and given the arrogance which we often see from governors in that state, especially when they talk about breaking away from the union, is exactly why we won’t see President Trump show any kindness to the state or its law enforcement, and as long as the judge says no, that is exactly what will keep a smile on the President’s face.

Were do you stand on the withholding of funds? Is it a mistake or do you believe that the President has got this one right? Let us know in the comments below.