The Justice Department maintains that the agency is complying with his court order.
District Judge John McConnell recently ruled that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) violated his previous court order, mandating that it unfreeze and fully distribute the millions of dollars allocated to the agency’s mission.
“FEMA’s manual review process violates the Court’s preliminary injunction order,” Judge McConnell wrote.
Judge McConnell had ruled against the freeze on FEMA funding by President Trump’s administration, saying that the Executive Branch cannot withhold Congressionally mandated funding. In response, FEMA began manually reviewing all expenditures within its jurisdiction, which Judge McConnell said slow-rolled funding distribution back to “an indefinite pause.“
“FEMA’s manual review process has nothing to do with the OMB Directive, and is expressly not a pause or freeze on funding — it is instead a change to the manner in which FEMA processes and approves payment requests,” the Justice Department stated in court filings. “FEMA intends to make appropriate payments under the relevant grants, which forecloses Plaintiffs’ allegations of a continued ‘pause’ or ‘freeze.’”
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For Interim Director Cameron Hamilton as he heads FEMA.
- For prudence for the judge as he interprets the actions of FEMA in reviewing the grants.
- For Attorney General Pam Bondi and officials in the Justice Department as they argue cases in federal courts.
Sources: The Hill, Reuters
