PROVIDENCE – A federal judge in Rhode Island directed the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Friday to comply with a previous court order and release funds to states that filed suit against the administration of President Donald Trump.
U.S. District Court Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr. granted a request from 23 Democratic states, including Rhode Island, and the District of Columbia to enforce a preliminary injunction he granted last month that ordered the federal government to resume the flow of congressionally authorized funding that had been frozen by a series of executive orders signed by the president.
Despite that ruling and the administration’s unsuccessful appeal of it, the plaintiffs say that payments obligated to the states have yet to be released.
McConnell ordered the money to be paid out.
“FEMA must immediately comply with the plain text of the preliminary injunction order not to pause or otherwise impede the disbursement of appropriated federal funds to the States…,” he wrote.
Destroyed buildings and homes are pictured in the aftermath of a wildfire in Lahaina, western Maui, Hawaii on Aug. 11, 2023. A wildfire that left Lahaina in charred ruins has killed at least 55 people, authorities said on August 10, making it one of the deadliest disasters in the US state’s history. Brushfires on Maui, fueled by high winds from Hurricane Dora passing to the south of Hawaii, broke out on Aug. 8 and rapidly engulfed Lahaina.
Not the first ruling ordering funding to resume
The order is just the latest ruling directing the Trump administration to start making payments again on grants, loans and other forms of federal assistance that were approved before President Trump took office for a second term.
On Jan. 31, Judge McConnell granted a temporary restraining order against the funding freeze. Ten days later, he granted a request from the states to enforce the motion, ordering federal agencies to “immediately restore frozen funding” and “immediately end any funding pause.”
On March 6, the judge granted a more lasting preliminary injunction. And on March 26, a three-judge panel with the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the federal government’s request to overturn McConnell’s ruling.
In the meantime, the states said the federal government was still failing to comply with the court orders. Focusing their attention on funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, they filed a second request for enforcement with McConnell.
Funds for Maui wildfires, other FEMA programs held up
The states said in court filings that they haven’t received any FEMA payments since February, coinciding with an agency-wide memo instructing staff to place a hold on all grants that came after a directive from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
A follow-up email clarified that the hold was separate from the funding freeze ordered by Trump and was thus not in violation of McConnell’s initial temporary restraining order, according to court documents.
Since then, Hawaii has been unable to access $5.7 million in relief funds for the 2023 Maui wildfires, Oregon says it is waiting on $129.4 million that it’s still owed, Colorado says it’s waiting on approval for $33 million in reimbursements, and Rhode Island says payments from the10 FEMA grants it’s been awarded have been unavailable for more than 30 days.
In total, 19 of the plaintiff states say they are still awaiting payments on at least 215 FEMA grants.
Trump administration says it’s carrying out manual review of grants
The federal government says that FEMA’s actions do not constitute an across-the-board funding freeze. Rather, they say that the agency is conducting a manual review process of all grants aimed at ensuring they are “free from fraud, waste or abuse.”
That characterization echoes the government’s argument in other cases challenging the funding freeze, in which it has said that agencies are using their lawful discretion to ensure that money is going to programs that align with the new administration’s policy priorities.
McConnell; however, ruled that federal regulations don’t allow for such a manual review process, “which,” he said, “essentially imposes an indefinite categorical pause on payments.” There are other existing means for agencies to ensure controls over grant awards, he said.
He said that the states have presented evidence “that strongly suggests that FEMA is implementing this manual review process based, covertly, on” President Trump’s executive order barring federal funding for so-called sanctuary jurisdictions that don’t cooperate with immigration enforcement.
And, said McConnell, that funding prohibition in the immigration order was covered by the preliminary injunction he ordered in March.
“Thus, FEMA’s manual review process violates the Court’s preliminary injunction order,” McConnell said in his decision.
He ordered FEMA to immediately stop the review process and comply with the preliminary injunction to resume payments of federal funds. He directed FEMA to notify staff of the order and provide confirmation within 48 hours of the order.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Federal judge in RI orders FEMA to release funds frozen by Trump order
