On Friday, Federal Judge John McConnell ruled that the Trump administration, including U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, violated a court order by continuing to block Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) aid intended for at least 19 states.
The magistrate also alleged that the government is attempting to “punish” in this way states with Democratic Attorneys General who have expressed dissent against government immigration policies.
In March, McConnell had explained that the federal administration’s delays in releasing funds “fundamentally undermines the distinct constitutional roles of each branch of our government.” Hawaii reported that FEMA has not yet responded to its request for $6 million and subsequent reimbursement of $500,000 for climate-related wildfires.
Equally, the state of Oregon reported that the agency has not responded to its request for $129.4 million in federal funds to address wildfires, severe winter storms, flooding and mudslides.
“Court intervention is necessary,” the various states still awaiting funding had communicated, saying the federal delay is not a “pause or denial of grants,” “but an internal audit,” with FEMA implementing a manual review process based, secretly, on the President’s Jan. 20, 2025, executive order called “Protecting the American People Against Invasion,” which targets so-called “sanctuary cities.”
States began to suspect they were being targeted in January after the administration communicated that “The use of federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and Green New Deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve.”
On Friday, therefore, McConnell finally ordered FEMA to release the funds in question.
“This is yet another example of an activist judge trying to obstruct President Trump’s agenda,” said a senior official at the Department of Homeland Security, “At the direction of Secretary Noem, FEMA has implemented additional controls to ensure that all grant program activity is consistent with law and does not promote fraud, waste or abuse, as it has in the past.”
