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From Fox News: A Rhode Island 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 District of Columbia, 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.
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.'”
READ MORE from Fox News.
New York Attorney General Letitia James celebrated the ruling, writing, “We just won a court order requiring the Trump administration to immediately stop their freeze on FEMA funds that keep people safe. I will keep fighting to protect essential resources from the chaos of this administration.”
We just won a court order requiring the Trump administration to immediately stop their freeze on FEMA funds that keep people safe.
I will keep fighting to protect essential resources from the chaos of this administration. https://t.co/h80HpK7R4D
— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) April 4, 2025
Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) formally introduced articles of impeachment against McConnell on March 24.
🚨 Today I’m formally introducing articles of impeachment against Judge McConnell.
This activist judge is guilty of abuse of power and conflicts of interest.
READ HERE: https://t.co/TyfjcdY8th pic.twitter.com/KIchSpjAjK
— Rep. Andrew Clyde (@Rep_Clyde) March 24, 2025
ABOUT THIS JUDGE: John James McConnell Jr. (born 1958) is the chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island.
On November 17, 2008, McConnell sent a letter to two Democrat senators, Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, expressing his interest in being nominated for the vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island. This came after McConnell had donated $15,530 to Reed and $12,600 to Whitehouse. After Reed and Whitehouse interviewed McConnell, they referred him to the president for the nomination. President Barack Obama then nominated McConnell to the judge’s seat in March 2010, and he was confirmed in a 50-44 vote in May 2011.
Prior to becoming a judge, McConnell and his wife were major donors to Democratic political candidates. He also served four years on Rhode Island’s Planned Parenthood branch’s board of directors.
In February, investigative journalist Laura Loomer pointed out a conflict of interest, noting that McConnell’s daughter worked for the Department of Education.
Total conflict of interest! Judge McConnell never disclosed his conflict. No wonder why he doesn’t want DOGE and the Trump admin to defund the Department of Education. His daughter works there!
Corruption.
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) February 11, 2025
Judge targeted by GOP for impeachment deals blow to Trump’s FEMA objectives https://t.co/Wp5EfVPZFF
— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 4, 2025
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