DOJ appeals judge's order to unfreeze federal grants
The Justice Department on Monday appealed a federal judge's order to unfreeze federal grants, hours after the judge ruled that the Trump administration had not complied with his directive.
In a short notice, DOJ lawyer Daniel Schwei indicated that the government would appeal U.S. District Judge John McConnell's key orders — the first blocking the White House budget office's order to pause the disbursement of grants and the second directing the government to follow the first order and "immediately" end the funding pause.
It marks the second DOJ appeal of a lawsuit challenging major Trump administration actions. Schwei said the Justice Department would seek to pause McConnell's orders pending its appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, which would keep the funding freeze in effect.
In a memo last month, the Office of Management and Budget told federal agencies to pause the disbursement of grants as the administration assessed its spending to ensure it aligned with President Trump's agenda. The sweeping directive drew quick legal challenges and widespread confusion.
Though the memo was later withdrawn, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt cautioned on social media that the administration's rescission only referred to the memo itself, not the entire freeze. McConnell said the reversal was 'in name only," citing her post.
"The substantive effect of the directive carries on,' the judge wrote in his initial order.
In his new order Monday, McConnell told the Trump administration to "immediately" cease any pauses in federal funding until after he determines whether to indefinitely block the freeze while litigation is ongoing.
He pointed specifically to funds appropriated under two laws championed by former President Biden — the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Improvement and Jobs Act — and funds intended for institutes and other agencies like the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as examples of withheld funds that must be restored.
'The broad categorical and sweeping freeze of federal funds is, as the Court found, likely unconstitutional and has caused and continues to cause irreparable harm to a vast portion of this country,' McConnell wrote.
Democratic attorneys general in 22 states and Washington, D.C., challenged the freeze and later said the Trump administration was not complying with the judge's initial command. The coalition is led by New York Attorney General Letitia James (D), who has taken Trump himself to court for business fraud and won a multimillion-dollar judgment against him.
The government opposed the states' motion to force its abidance, writing in court filings that it had made 'good-faith, diligent efforts' to comply.
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Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
What we know about the Minnesota shooting suspect
The man accused of shooting Democratic state lawmakers in Minnesota on Saturday while impersonating a police officer worked for a security company that advertised a fleet of 'police type vehicles,' and other equipment that could potentially have aided him in appearing to be law enforcement. Vance Boelter was also an outspoken evangelical Christian who traveled to Africa to tell his faith story and, in at least one sermon, pointedly questioned American morals on sexual orientation, according to videos and social media posts reviewed by CNN. Boelter was a conservative who was strongly against abortion rights, a longtime friend told CNN on Saturday. But Boelter never mentioned any particular anger with the lawmakers who were shot, said David Carlson. 'It wasn't the thing that defined him,' he said of his religious and political beliefs. Carlson added, 'He wasn't a hateful person. But he needed help.' Boelter, 57, was arrested Sunday night in the city of Green Isle, Minnesota, where he lived, according to authorities. He's accused of killing one lawmaker and her husband and wounding another and his wife early Saturday. Officials said he left behind an apparent hit list with dozens of names in his car after exchanging fire with police outside the home of one victim and fleeing the scene. Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said the attack 'appears to be a politically motivated assassination.' State officials said authorities early on Saturday encountered what appeared to be a police vehicle with emergency flashing lights in the driveway of Rep. Melissa Hortman's home. Officers at the home 'saw (Boelter)…dressed as a police officer, shoot an adult man' through the open front door, according to a criminal complaint obtained by the Minnesota Star Tribune. The suspect 'exchanged gunfire' with police and ran into the house, ultimately disappearing from the area, according to the complaint. Hortman – the top Democrat in the Minnesota House – and her husband were both killed. At a nearby home, Minnesota State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were also shot but are in stable condition after surgery. Police said they are still investigating a motive for the attacks. The names on the list, which CNN obtained, are largely Democrats or figures with ties to Planned Parenthood or the abortion rights movement. The list included prominent lawmakers like Rep. Ilhan Omar and Sen. Tina Smith as well as Planned Parenthood leaders. Police said Boelter also had fliers for anti-Trump protests in his car, raising fears that he may also have intended to target those rallies. Boelter largely shied away from political posts in his publicly available social media feeds and did not discuss abortion rights in any religious speeches reviewed by CNN. In one talk he gave in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2023, he appeared sharply critical of LGBTQ rights. 'There's people especially in America, they don't know what sex they are, they don't know their sexual orientation, they're confused. The enemy has gotten so far into their mind and their soul,' he said in a sermon at a Pentecostal church in eastern DRC. Carlson said Boelter was recently having financial problems, possibly due to his regular travels to Africa. The security firm had failed to find traction, Carlson said, leaving Boelter scrambling to find work, including at a funeral home. 'Problem is, he quit all his jobs to go down there,' he said. 'And then he comes back and tries to find new jobs. Wasn't working out that good.' Those who knew Boelter from his church work said they were stunned that he was linked to the violence on Saturday. Pastor McNay Nkashama, who said he knew Boelter as a volunteer who preached Christianity, said he was struggling to reconcile the allegations with the man he knew. 'Of all the people I know, he would not hurt a fly,' Nkashama said in a brief telephone interview. 'I just cannot believe it.' Although Boelter lived in the small town of Green Isle about an hour outside Minneapolis, he often crashed in Carlson's rented home in the city. Carlson, 59, spoke with reporters Saturday night in front of the small home after returning from the lumber store to buy plywood for the windows, which had been busted open by a SWAT team earlier in the day. Carlson said he last heard from Boelter around 6:30 pm on Friday night. He said he knocked on Boelter's door, and when Boelter said he was tired, Carlson watched TV and went to bed. He said he awoke around 6:30 am Saturday and soon after he saw a text message from Boelter. It's unclear when the text was sent. Carlson declined to read it to reporters on Saturday night, but Reuters had reported earlier that Boelter told Carlson that he might be dead soon. After seeing the text message, Carlson said, he called the police. 'I thought he would do self-harm; I didn't think he was … ' his voice trailed off. Boelter served on a state board with Hoffman, records show. In 2019, Walz put Boelter on the Governor's Workforce Development Board – a group of business owners who recommend policies to the state government. In a letter, Walz said the post was in recognition of Boelter's 'integrity, judgment, and ability.' According to a spokesperson for the governor, the development board, which has more than 60 members, is one of many external boards and commissions whose members are unpaid and come from 'all parties.' The spokesperson said the governor does not interview applicants to the boards. It's unclear how closely Boelter and Hoffman interacted in that role, if at all. 'We are still exploring that,' Drew Evans, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension superintendent said in a news conference Saturday afternoon about whether Boelter knew the victims directly. 'There's certainly some overlap with some public meetings, I will say, with Sen. Hoffman and the individual, but we don't know the nature of the relationship or if they actually knew each other.' Boelter has worked as director of security patrols for Praetorian Guard Security Services, which provides 'random armed patrols' of customers' properties, according to the company's webpage – which also suggests he could have had access to uniforms and equipment that could aid in impersonating a police officer. The firm was registered to Boelter's home address and listed a woman who is apparently his wife as president and CEO; she did not respond to messages from CNN. The site advertised that the firm had 'police-type vehicles' and noted, 'We drive the same make and model of vehicles that many police departments use in the U.S. Currently we drive Ford Explorer Utility Vehicles.' The firm's website boasted of Boelter having experience in foreign conflict zones. It said that he was 'involved with security situations in Eastern Europe, Africa, North America and the Middle East, including the West Bank, Southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.' Video from outside Hortman's home on Saturday showed law enforcement towing a black Ford Explorer equipped with police lights. Archived photos from a home previously owned by Boelter show a similar vehicle in the driveway. In speeches reviewed by CNN, Boelter described his deep faith and said he was born again into the church as a teenager. 'I met Jesus when I was 17 years old and I gave my life to him,' Boelter told the church in the DRC in February 2023. 'And I just wanted to tell everybody about Jesus.' Records also show that Boelter once launched a Christian nonprofit called Revoformation Ministries. An archived website under that name includes a biography of him, describing Boelter as having traveled extensively to preach Christianity, including in the Middle East, where the site says he had sought out 'militant Islamists in order to share the gospel and tell them that violence wasn't the answer.' That website described Boelter as a reverend and an author, noting that he had written a book that presents a 'different paradigm on the nature of man and our relationship with God.' CNN reviewed numerous videos of Boelter preaching in the DRC from 2021 to 2023. Boelter appears emotional when describing his religious devotion. He also frequently talked about his connection to the DRC and what he perceived as the suffering the country has endured due to decades of internal conflict and meddling of other countries. 'I've been to North and South America, I've been to the Middle East, I've been to Eastern Europe, and I've been in the DRC. I've never been in a country before like the DRC that has had so much taken away. I hear the history, and it hits my heart. So many people, so many countries have taken, taken, taken,' he said in 2022. Boelter said he worked at major food brands such as Nestlé, and was the general manager of a 7-11, according to an online resume. Boelter registered to vote as a Republican in the early 2000s, state records show. Carlson said he was a Trump voter. In a post six years ago on LinkedIn, Boelter encouraged people to vote and wrote, 'I think the election is going to have more of an impact on the direction of our country than probably any election we have been apart of, or will be apart of for years to come.' A state document that listed his 2019 appointment to a development board noted he had 'no party preference.' Boelter's LinkedIn page claims he had a doctorate in educational leadership and a masters of science in management, both from Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, and he used the prefix Dr. on his website and social media. Social media posts also indicate he has multiple children. A search of Minnesota criminal records showed no cases against Boelter aside from some traffic charges. Boelter had a property outside the small town of Green Isle, about 50 miles west of Minneapolis, according to records. A sheriff's deputy was blocking a gravel road leading to the home on Saturday afternoon. In the town's restaurants and bars, no one who spoke to CNN knew Boelter or his family. Carlson said he thought Boelter's recent financial struggles may have pushed him into violence. 'He was looking around, but maybe things didn't work out and he just gave up and decided to go out in the blaze of glory,' he said. 'I have no idea what he was thinking.' This story has been updated with an interview with David Carlson. CNN's Majlie de Puy Kamp and Bob Ortega contributed to this report.
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Minnesota lawmaker shooting suspect Vance Boelter expected to appear in court today. Here's how the manhunt unfolded.
The man accused of shooting two Democratic state lawmakers and their spouses in Minnesota while impersonating a police officer was taken into custody in rural Sibley County, about 50 miles away from Minneapolis, on Sunday evening, ending a massive two-day manhunt that was described as the largest in the state's history. The suspect, Vance Luther Boelter, 57, was arrested and charged with two counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder in the fatal shooting of former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and the shooting of Democratic state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, in their homes north of Minneapolis early Saturday. Boelter is due to appear in court on Monday afternoon. "One man's unthinkable actions have altered the state of Minnesota," Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said at a news conference announcing Boelter's arrest, calling the killing of Hortman a 'politically motivated assassination." Authorities reportedly recovered an apparent hit list containing the names of dozens of Minnesota Democrats, including Walz, U.S. Sen. Tina Smith, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar and state Attorney General Keith Ellison. "This cannot be the norm,' Walz added. 'It cannot be the way that we deal with our political differences.' Authorities say the attacks began around 2 a.m. on Saturday, when Boelter shot and wounded John and Yvette Hoffman at their Champlin, Minn., home. Police received a 911 call from the couple's adult daughter just after 2 a.m., reporting that a masked person had come to their door and shot her parents. Responding officers said they found the Hoffmans with multiple gunshot wounds. Both are expected to survive. 'John is enduring many surgeries right now and is closer every hour to being out of the woods,' Yvette Hoffman said in a text shared by Sen. Amy Klobuchar on X. 'He took 9 bullet hits. I took 8 and we are both incredibly lucky to be alive. Surveillance video taken from the Hoffman home showed the armed suspect wearing a mask and a tactical vest near the door of the residence, and a Ford SUV with 'police-style lights' parked in the driveway. According to a criminal complaint obtained by the Minnesota Star Tribune, at least three AK-47 assault rifles and a handgun were found in the vehicle along with the list of names of Democratic officials. When police in nearby Brooklyn Park learned that a lawmaker had been shot, they sent patrol officers to proactively check on the Hortmans' home. Around 3:35 a.m., they encountered an SUV with emergency lights on in the driveway and Boelter posing as a police officer as he shot Mark Hortman through the open door of the home. The suspect and officers exchanged fire, and Boelter fled. Police recovered a ballistic vest, mask and a 'gold police-style badge' at that scene. On Sunday, authorities located Boelter's vehicle abandoned in Sibley County, near his Green Isle, Minn., home. An officer then spotted what he believed to be the suspect running into the woods, setting off a frantic search. According to authorities, a large perimeter was established, and nearly 200 law enforcement officers — including members of 20 regional and local SWAT teams — as well as helicopters and drones were involved in the manhunt. Police received another tip that a man was running in the woods, allowing officers to hone in on the suspect. Hours later, Boelter was located by law enforcement and crawled out to surrender. Lt. Col. Jeremy Geiger of the Minnesota State Patrol said Boelter was armed, but no shots were fired, and he was handcuffed and taken into custody. Boelter was booked into the Hennepin County Jail, where he is being held. Boelter is a married father who worked for a security services firm in the Twin Cities area. According to ABC News, Boelter 'touted an extensive background in security and military training' online. According to CNN, he was also an outspoken evangelical Christian who 'traveled to Africa to tell his faith story and, in at least one sermon, pointedly questioned American morals on sexual orientation.' 'There's people especially in America, they don't know what sex they are, they don't know their sexual orientation, they're confused,' he said in the sermon. 'The enemy has gotten so far into their mind and their soul.' The apparent target list recovered inside the fake police vehicle included figures with ties to Planned Parenthood or the abortion rights movement. Authorities have yet to publicly identify a motive for the shootings. And it's unclear whether Boelter had any direct ties with the victims. According to the Associated Press, Boelter served on the same state workforce development board as John Hoffman, records show, though it was not clear if or how well they knew each other. The shootings, which came the same day of the No Kings protests against President Trump and Trump's own military parade, drew condemnation from lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle. But at least one U.S. senator, Republican Mike Lee of Utah, is facing criticism for social media posts suggesting that Boelter is a 'Marxist,' a label often used by Republicans to disparage Democrats as communists. "This is what happens When Marxists don't get their way," Lee posted on X with a photo of the suspect in a mask. Lee also shared another post of Boelter with the caption: "Nightmare on Waltz Street," an apparent misspelled reference to Walz, the Minnesota Democratic governor.
Fox News
18 minutes ago
- Fox News
Republicans criticize Dem congressional candidate's '86 47' post as call for 'political violence'
Republicans in swing state New Hampshire are criticizing the move by a Democratic congressional candidate to post a photo of herself next to an "86 47" sign, which some in the GOP see as a shorthand message suggesting violence against President Donald Trump. Maura Sullivan, a former Marine Corps officer who deployed in the Iraq War and later served at the Pentagon and the Veterans Administration under former President Barack Obama, attended a "No Kings" protest this past weekend in her hometown of Portsmouth, N.H. Demonstrators at thousands of rallies nationwide on Saturday protested what they call the president's anti-democratic actions and authoritarian tendencies. Sullivan, while at the rally, posted on social media a photo of herself standing next to a fellow veteran who was holding a sign that read "Veterans for Democracy." But the sign also included the phrase "Foxtrot Delta Tango," as well as the message "86 47." "Foxtrot Delta Tango" is a military-style phrase in the NATO phonetic alphabet that spells out the letters "FDT," which is seen as a derogatory term towards Trump. While "86" is a term long used in restaurants to signify when they are out of a food item on a menu, or in bars or military circles to get rid of something – or someone. And of late, some Republicans perceive it as a message to have Trump eliminated. The Secret Service continues to investigate former FBI director James Comey after he earlier this year posted on social media an image of seashells arranged to spell "86 47." Comey, following a conservative uproar, took down his post and apologized. The social media post by Sullivan, one of two top Democrats running to succeed Rep. Chris Pappas in New Hampshire's 1st Congressional District, came hours after the horrific shootings of two leading Minnesota Democratic state lawmakers - one of them fatal. State Rep. Melissa Hortman, the former speaker of the Minnesota state House, and her spouse were killed, and Sen. John Hoffman and his spouse were severely wounded in the shootings, which appear to be politically motivated attacks. Sullivan's congressional campaign, in a statement to Fox News, pointed to the Minnesota shootings. "Maura is outraged and heartbroken about the assassination of a public servant in Minnesota. She believes that there is absolutely no place for violence in our politics, regardless of party or affiliation," Sullivan campaign manager Nick London said. London added that on Saturday, "Maura joined thousands of Granite Staters and millions of Americans in peacefully protesting Donald Trump's use of our servicemembers as props for his political agenda. If the President cared about our veterans, he would be focused on improving healthcare at the VA, expanding mental health services and supporting our military families." Republicans in New Hampshire quickly criticized Sullivan over her post. "I knew Maura was cozying up with the extreme radical left, but this is a step too far. Calls for political violence like this have no place in New Hampshire," New Hampshire GOP chair Jim MacEachern said in a statement. And NHGOP vice chair Hollie Novoletsky, who came in second in the 2024 GOP congressional primary in the 1st District, said in a statement, "Whether the target of an assassination is President Trump or a Democrat State Rep in MN, it is unacceptable. You'd think as a 'Veteran for Democracy,' Maura would know that." The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), the campaign arm of the House GOP, which is trying to flip the district for the first time in eight years, went further. "Political violence has no place in our country – and posing with propaganda calling for the assassination of President Trump is dangerous and disqualifying," NRCC spokeswoman Maureen O'Toole argued. "Maura Sullivan must apologize, take down the photo, and take herself out of the running for New Hampshire's First Congressional District."
