A federal judge has rejected the Trump administration’s contention that a recent Supreme Court decision that allows it to keep on ice $65 million in education grants should apply to a legal fight over funding at the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Chief Judge John McConnell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, who agreed last week to pause an order forcing FEMA to disburse disaster aid, lifted that pause Monday and said he won’t reconsider it in the wake of the high court ruling.
Justice Department attorneys had asked judges in two cases to take into account the high court’s 5-4 emergency docket ruling earlier this month that granted the administration’s request to freeze education dollars while litigation proceeds.
But McConnell, who paused his initial order at the department’s request, said the Supreme Court’s decision in Department of Education v. California has several “significant and relevant differences” to the FEMA lawsuit and does not apply.
