LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – A simmering budget fight between Michigan House Republicans and Attorney General Dana Nessel boiled over on Friday when a judge ordered the Whitmer administration to halt $645 million in state spending.

Michigan Court of Claims Judge Michael F. Gadola directed all state departments to immediately stop spending the disputed tax dollars for so-called “work projects” that the House denied last month.

In his decision, Gadola said the Republican-led House is “likely to succeed” on the merits of its lawsuit and would face “irreparable harm” if state agencies were allowed to continue spending money lawmakers had ordered rescinded.

House Speaker Matt Hall quickly declared victory. “I’ve said all along that we were going to win this easily, because any fair court would rule in the House Republicans’ favor,” Hall said in a statement released Friday afternoon. “While ultimate Lansing insiders and Senate Democrats are desperate to protect their pork spending, House Republicans are fighting for hardworking taxpayers. This ruling has stopped Dana Nessel’s bogus legal opinion in its tracks, forcing the Whitmer administration to stop illegally spending their slush fund dollars.”

The injunction comes just days after Nessel issued a formal opinion citing the law that House Republicans relied on to claw back the funding is unconstitutional. In addition, she argued lawmakers overstepped their authority.