Fox News: Judge targeted by GOP for impeachment deals blow to Trump's FEMA objectives

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Judge targeted by GOP for impeachment deals blow to Trump's FEMA objectives

A Rhode Island federal judge ordered the Trump administration to unfreeze federal funds after plaintiffs argued it defied a prior court order to release the money.......                    ...                        ...A You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login federal judge targeted for impeachment dealt the Trump administration a legal blow on Friday, ordering it to lift a freeze on federal funds.......U.S. District Judge John McConnell ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to unfreeze federal funds to states after plaintiffs alleged the agency had failed to comply with an earlier court order.......The lawsuit was originally launched by 22 states and the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, challenging the Trump administration's decision to block funding for programs like the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Climate Pollution Reduction Grant and other environmental initiatives. ......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......Plaintiffs in the suit, including the states of New York, California, Illinois and Rhode Island, argued that FEMA's implementation of a manual review process for payment requests violated a previous preliminary injunction issued by McConnell. The states argued that the review "constitutes 'a categorical pause or freeze of funding appropriate by Congress.'"......The defendants, which include President You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), responded that the review did not violate the order because "FEMA is relying on its own independent authorities to implement the process rather than the OMB Directive."......McConnell concluded that the plaintiffs had "presented evidence that strongly suggests that FEMA is implementing this manual review process based, covertly, on the President's January 20, 2025 executive order." ......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......"The Court reaffirms its preliminary injunction order," McConnell wrote. ......McConnell had issued a restraining order in late January that enjoined the defendants from freezing federal funds. This came after OMB released a memo on Jan. 27 announcing the administration's plans to temporarily pause federal grants and loans. The White House later rescinded the memo on Jan. 29. ......However, You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the move didn't equate a "recission of the federal funding freeze." ......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......After McConnell ordered the administration to comply with the restraining order, the government appealed to the First Circuit — which refused to stay the orders. ......McConnell also recently made headlines after becoming one of several federal judges hit with impeachment articles. ......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login Rep. Andrew Clyde formally introduced his articles of impeachment against McConnell on March 24, after his initial announcement in February. ......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......The articles, first shared with Fox News Digital, charged McConnell with abuse of power and conflicts of interest, stating he "knowingly politicized and weaponized his judicial position to advance his own political views and beliefs."......"The American people overwhelmingly voted for President Trump in November, providing a clear mandate to make our federal government more efficient," Clyde told Fox News Digital. "Yet Judge McConnell, who stands to benefit from his own injunction, is attempting to unilaterally obstruct the president's agenda and defy the will of the American people. Judge McConnell's actions are corrupt, dangerous, and worthy of impeachment."......Fox News Digital's Diana Stancy contributed to this report....

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