A federal appeals panel temporarily preserved funding for 49 school mental‑health projects after the Education Department tried to terminate grants it said reflected prior administration priorities. The Dec. 4 9th Circuit opinion leaves existing awards in place for now but injects fresh uncertainty into federal grant competitions, the reporting shows. The dispute began when the department in April informed more than 200 recipients that their projects would lose funding effective Dec. 31; more than 80% appealed. The Trump administration then relaunched a revised competition with narrower priorities and pledged to award redistributed funds by year‑end. The department has since warned a court that continuing payments to the 49 protected projects could constrain its ability to make new awards. For postsecondary institutions and K‑12 districts preparing grant applications or relying on multi‑year mental‑health initiatives, the decision signals that federal funding streams can be disrupted by shifting policy priorities and litigation—raising program continuity and staffing risks.