As President Donald Trump strikes at lightning tempo to implement guarantees made throughout the 2024 marketing campaign to streamline authorities and lower out “waste, fraud and abuse,” he has been met with staunch resistance from a consortium of Democrat states and non-profits/non-governmental organizations. It appears virtually each day that there’s a new lawsuit filed, a brand new restraining order issued, or an order to return an worker to work regardless of being fired by america Chief Govt.
In a single case, newly found proof means that the federal choose presiding over claims levied towards President Trump’s coverage could have a severe battle of curiosity. The case includes President Trump’s order to briefly freeze federal funding and was revealed by America First Authorized on the X platform.
Choose John McConnell, Chief Choose of the federal district courtroom of Rhode Island, ordered a halt to the funding freeze in late January. Then, on February tenth, he stated that the Trump Administration had not complied and ordered the funding to be unfrozen whereas authorized proceedings continued. McConnell wrote in his order that “individuals who make personal determinations of the regulation and refuse to obey an order usually threat prison contempt.”
The case was introduced by 22 states and the District of Columbia, a “secret Blue State resistance” that was uncovered by the Oversight Challenge final week.
As America First Authorized (AFL) revealed on X, the choose presiding over the case has a “main potential battle of curiosity.” Choose McConnell seems to be on the board of a non-governmental group (NGO) that receives funding as a sub-awardee from a number of federal company grants, together with the Division of Agriculture, Housing and City Improvement, and Well being and Human Providers.
In response to AFL, Choose McConnell was the Chairman of the Board from 2011 by way of 2021 and continues to be listed as Chair-Emeritus. Screenshots of Crossroads’ 2023 Type 990 present that Choose McConnell continues to be listed as a member of the Board and has been listed as a Director yearly since 2006, together with when he took the bench in 2013.
In 2023, the Type 990 reveals that Crossroads Rhode Island obtained $18.6 million in authorities funding, which is greater than half of the group’s $30 million in income. Since McConnell turned a board member in 2006, the group has raked in over $117 million in authorities funding as of 2023. AFL expands this quantity to $128 million in case you embrace FY2024 and FY2025, to date.
AFL writes of their X submit:
“Why is that this vital? It’s common observe for the federal authorities to disburse cash to the states, which then hand it out to NGOs like Crossroads Rhode Island.
Right here, Choose McConnell ordered taxpayer {dollars} to proceed flowing to the states, together with Rhode Island, ‘[s]tates depend on federal funds to offer and preserve very important packages.’
When Choose McConnell dominated towards the Trump Administration and required federal taxpayers to proceed funding the State of Rhode Island, it appears that evidently he additionally required continued funding for his pet “non-profit,” Crossroads Rhode Island.”
Underneath Federal regulation 28 USC § 455, “any justice, choose, or Justice of the Peace choose of america shall disqualify himself in any continuing by which his impartiality would possibly moderately be questioned.”
Underneath § 455 (b)(4), it states that, “He shall additionally disqualify himself within the following circumstances: [if] he is aware of that he, individually or as a fiduciary, or his partner or minor youngster residing in his family, has a monetary curiosity in the subject material in controversy or in a celebration to the continuing, or another curiosity that may very well be considerably affected by the result of the continuing.”
AFL notes that “administrators of non-profits have fiduciary obligations to their organizations underneath Rhode Island Legislation 7 R.I. Gen. Legal guidelines § 7-6-22(b).” The submit additional notes that even the “insistence or look of neutrality” is “a necessary technique of making certain the fact of a good adjudication.”
/1BREAKING — FEDERAL JUDGE McCONNELL MUST RECUSE HIMSELF IMMEDIATELY.
AFL has uncovered a significant potential battle of curiosity for Choose John McConnell, Chief Choose of the federal district courtroom of Rhode Island, who halted President Trump’s short-term spending freeze.
READ ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/mDEBDxd5hX
— America First Authorized (@America1stLegal) February 16, 2025
As talked about above, a coalition of Democrat states’ attorneys normal have agreed to a coalition to wage lawfare towards President Trump. Because of this, he has had greater than 40 lawsuits filed towards him since taking workplace on January twentieth.
