A federal judge on Friday ruled that President Donald Trump’s administration cannot rely on a White House budget office regulation to terminate billions of dollars in grants because they no longer align with the president’s priorities.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston agreed with a group of Democrat-led states that the administration was wrongly using a U.S. Office of Management and Budget ⁠regulation to revoke grants after they had been awarded.

The Trump administration has relied on a clause in the regulation to cancel grant funding it views as supporting causes such as diversity, equity, and ⁠inclusion initiatives and climate change preparedness programs, prompting a wave of litigation over specific grant cuts.

Talwani, who was appointed by Democrat President Barack Obama, said the states were correct that the clause “does not permit agencies to terminate grants based on program goals ‌and agency priorities identified after grants were awarded.”

She said the administration’s interpretation had no basis in law and that ‌agencies could not impose such a condition on spending without violating the U.S. Constitution. The regulation, she said, “demands only that grantees be apprised of those ‌goals and priorities before grants are awarded.”

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