Latest news with #JudgeMcConnell
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Judge blocks Trump order against three federal agencies
Antwan King got help for his trucking business from the Minority Business Development Agency center in Milwaukee. On Tuesday, a federal judge issued an injuction that blocked a Trump administration executive order to close down the MBDA's operations. (Photo courtesy of Antwan King) A federal judge in Rhode Island issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday, blocking a Trump administration executive order from effectively closing three federal agencies that support museums and libraries, promote labor peace and assist minority-owned businesses. The agencies involved are the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS), the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). They were among the agencies that President Donald Trump listed in a March 14 executive order to be effectively shut down. The order violates the federal Administrative Procedures Act 'in the arbitrary and capricious way it was carried out,' wrote Judge John J. McConnell of the U.S. District Court for Rhode Island. 'It also disregards the fundamental constitutional role of each of the branches of our federal government; specifically, it ignores the unshakable principles that Congress makes the law and appropriates funds, and the Executive implements the law Congress enacted and spends the funds Congress appropriated,' McConnell wrote. The lawsuit against the order was brought by 21 states, including Wisconsin, with attorneys general in Rhode Island, Hawaii and New York leading the litigation. 'Today's preliminary injunction is a critical win for the public interest,' said Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha in a statement. 'When the Trump Administration attempts to dismantle these agencies, it is making a targeted, concerted effort to prohibit everyday people from accessing their full potential.' Trump's order named seven agencies — including the three involved in Tuesday's court ruling — and directed them to eliminate their 'non-statutory components and functions . . . to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.' It also directed them to 'reduce the performance of their statutory function and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law.' McConnell wrote that the day after issuing the order, Trump signed a continuing appropriations bill 'in which Congress funded IMLS, MBDA, and FMCS through Sept. 30, 2025 at the same level it funded these agencies in fiscal year 2024.' Despite that, in the aftermath of the order, the three agencies 'are rescinding or deferring appropriated funds and do not plan to spend them,' McConnell wrote. The FMCS provides mediation in labor negotiations between employers and unions and was established under the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act. The IMLS, established in the 1990s, provides grants to museums and libraries while also providing research and policy analysis for museums, libraries and information services. Help for minority-owned business The MBDA, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, was launched in 1969 by President Richard Nixon and was given its present name 10 years later. Over its lifetime 'it's gotten bipartisan support,' Henry Childs, who served as the agency's national director from 2018 to 2020, the last three years of Trump's first term, told the Wisconsin Examiner. In 2021, the bipartisan infrastructure law enacted under President Joe Biden made the MBDA a permanent federal agency — the result of an amendment to the legislation promoted by Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) with support from members of both parties. Baldwin went on to advocate for an MBDA center in Milwaukee, which was established in 2022. After Trump returned to the White House this year, Department of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said at his January confirmation hearing that he did not support dismantling MBDA. Last month, however, Milwaukee's MBDA center abruptly closed when the federal grant that supported the program was canceled. Carolyn Mosby, interim president of the North Central Minority Supplier Development Council, a nonprofit that had the federal contract to operate the center, said she received notice April 17 of the grant's cancellation. The Milwaukee center was one of more than 40 across the country that were closed, she said. 'The MBDA and other programs are not about exclusion, they're about inclusion,' Mosby told the Wisconsin Examiner. 'These initiatives were created to address long-standing, well-documented disparities when it comes to access to capital and contracts and opportunities that have disproportionately affected minority businesses across this country.' Antwon King (Courtesy photo) Antwon King started his Milwaukee-based trucking business in 2020 with a simple cargo van. He graduated to a semi-trailer cab unit and found his niche hauling loads on flatbed trailers across the country — everything from pipes to wire coils to farm equipment and heavy construction machinery. Along the way, he needed help at times, primarily with access to capital, advice on business planning and connections with large corporations that had programs to encourage minority-owned suppliers. Through coaching at the Milwaukee MBDA center, he got guidance on funding sources for new equipment and learned how to pursue opportunities targeted to minority owned businesses. 'Those resources were extremely valuable,' King said. 'I was kind of shocked to hear they were shutting down. There were some things I was still working on.' Democrats on the Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation committee have written three times to the Department of Commerce demanding that Lutnick protect the agency from Trump's order. The third letter, sent April 30, quotes the closing notice that centers received stating they are 'unfortunately no longer consistent with the agency's priorities and no longer serves the interests of the United States and the MBDA Program.' The termination notice also stated that 'MBDA is repurposing its funding allocations in a new direction in furtherance of the President's agenda.' The letter demands an explanation of what types of funded activities would be 'consistent with the agency's priorities' and would serve its interests. It also demands a 'detailed explanation' of how MBDA will repurpose its funding. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Arab News
06-05-2025
- Business
- Arab News
Columbia University lays off nearly 180 after Trump pulled $400M over his antisemitism concerns
Columbia University lays off nearly 180 after Trump pulled $400M over his antisemitism concerns /node/2599809/world Trump hopes India-Pakistan clashes end 'very quickly' /node/2599808/world Trump hopes India-Pakistan clashes end 'very quickly' Updated 36 sec ago May 07, 2025 01:13 Topics: Trump Returns US India Pakistan Germany's Merz vows to be 'very European' chancellor /node/2599806/world Germany's Merz vows to be 'very European' chancellor Updated 12 min 20 sec ago May 07, 2025 01:04 US judge blocks Trump from shuttering three small federal agencies /node/2599805/world US judge blocks Trump from shuttering three small federal agencies Updated 16 min 59 sec ago May 07, 2025 00:57 US judge blocks Trump from shuttering three small federal agencies Updated 16 min 59 sec ago Reuters May 07, 2025 00:57 A federal judge on Tuesday blocked President Donald Trump's administration from firing workers and taking other steps to shut down federal agencies that fund museums and libraries, mediate labor disputes and support minority-owned businesses. US District Judge John McConnell in Providence, Rhode Island, agreed with 21 mostly Democrat-led states that Trump's March executive order directing that the agencies effectively be wiped out violated the US Constitution. 'This executive order ... ignores the unshakable principles that Congress makes the law and appropriates funds, and the Executive implements the law Congress enacted and spends the funds Congress appropriated,' wrote McConnell, an appointee of Democratic former President Barack Obama. The judge halted Trump's order from being implemented at the US Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Minority Business Development Agency, and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service pending the outcome of the case. McConnell did not order the agencies to take any specific steps. The judge told the states to consult with the Trump administration and submit a more detailed order for his approval. Trump in his order directed that those agencies and four others be reduced 'to the minimum presence and function required by law.' A judge in Washington, D.C. last week had separately blocked the museum and library agency from being shut down. White House spokesman Davis Ingle said McConnell had defied US Supreme Court precedent by blocking Trump from closing elements of the federal bureaucracy. 'The lower court's outrageous order will not be the last say on the matter,' Ingle said in a statement. Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha, a Democrat whose office is leading the lawsuit, called the decision a critical win for the public. 'When the Trump Administration attempts to dismantle these agencies, it is making a targeted, concerted effort to prohibit everyday people from accessing their full potential,' Neronha said in a statement. Trump's executive order was part of his broader effort to dramatically shrink the federal government and slash government spending. Tens of thousands of federal workers have been fired, placed on leave indefinitely or accepted buyouts to leave their jobs. At the three agencies involved in Tuesday's case, virtually all employees were placed on administrative leave shortly after Trump issued his executive order, according to court filings. The states in their lawsuit filed in April say that because Congress created the agencies and set their funding levels, Trump had no power to order that their work be halted. McConnell on Tuesday agreed. Federal law includes a mechanism for the president to return unneeded funding to Congress, the judge said, but Trump failed to follow that process. State libraries and museums have abandoned programs and implemented hiring freezes, business development offices are curbing training and other support programs, and state agencies have fewer options to mediate disputes with unions, McConnell said. North Korea's Kim Jong Un inspects munitions plants, lauds increased shell production /node/2599803/world North Korea's Kim Jong Un inspects munitions plants, lauds increased shell production Updated 25 min 3 sec ago May 07, 2025 00:51
Washington Post
06-05-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
Judge bars Trump administration from shrinking agencies that fund libraries, settle labor disputes
A federal judge has temporarily barred President Donald Trump's administration from dramatically shrinking three agencies that fund libraries across the U.S., settle labor disputes with public sector workers, and support state business contracting programs. U.S. District Judge John McConnell, Jr. in Rhode Island said Trump can't unilaterally end the funding and programs for the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Minority Business Development Agency and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. All three agencies were established by Congress.
The Independent
06-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Judge bars Trump administration from shrinking agencies that fund libraries, settle labor disputes
A federal judge has temporarily barred President Donald Trump 's administration from dramatically shrinking three agencies that fund libraries across the U.S., settle labor disputes with public sector workers, and support state business contracting programs. U.S. District Judge John McConnell, Jr. in Rhode Island said Trump can't unilaterally end the funding and programs for the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Minority Business Development Agency and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. All three agencies were established by Congress. Trump's March 14 executive order directing the agencies to cut as many staffers and programs as legally possible was "arbitrary and capricious," McConnell wrote in Tuesday's order. 'It also disregards the fundamental constitutional role of each of the branches of our federal government; specifically, it ignores the unshakable principles that Congress makes the law and appropriates funds, and the Executive implements the law Congress enacted and spends the funds Congress appropriated.' Twenty-one states sued over the executive order, which directed the agencies to eliminate every program that isn't mandated by law and to cut staffers and all other functions to the bare minimum allowed by statute. The states said the 'shredding' of the agencies puts hundreds of millions of dollars of grant funding at risk and hurts the general public. Threatened programs include a braille library in Washington, a literacy program in California, and a program supporting veterans in Rhode Island, according to the lawsuit. But attorneys for the government told the judge that the lawsuit is too broad, in part because some of the states are contending that specific grants have been terminated but others are simply anticipating future increased costs or that some grants may not be renewed. In some cases, U.S. Department of Justice attorneys wrote in court filings, the various grant recipients haven't even requested payment of the grants yet. Disputes over personnel claims, like employee terminations or reductions in force, must first be litigated before other entities before they can be brought to federal court, the attorneys wrote, suggesting the states were trying to "jump the line.' ___
Associated Press
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Judge bars Trump administration from shrinking agencies that fund libraries, settle labor disputes
A federal judge has temporarily barred President Donald Trump's administration from dramatically shrinking three agencies that fund libraries across the U.S., settle labor disputes with public sector workers, and support state business contracting programs. U.S. District Judge John McConnell, Jr. in Rhode Island said Trump can't unilaterally end the funding and programs for the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Minority Business Development Agency and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. All three agencies were established by Congress. Trump's March 14 executive order directing the agencies to cut as many staffers and programs as legally possible was 'arbitrary and capricious,' McConnell wrote in Tuesday's order. 'It also disregards the fundamental constitutional role of each of the branches of our federal government; specifically, it ignores the unshakable principles that Congress makes the law and appropriates funds, and the Executive implements the law Congress enacted and spends the funds Congress appropriated.' Twenty-one states sued over the executive order, which directed the agencies to eliminate every program that isn't mandated by law and to cut staffers and all other functions to the bare minimum allowed by statute. The states said the 'shredding' of the agencies puts hundreds of millions of dollars of grant funding at risk and hurts the general public. Threatened programs include a braille library in Washington, a literacy program in California, and a program supporting veterans in Rhode Island, according to the lawsuit. But attorneys for the government told the judge that the lawsuit is too broad, in part because some of the states are contending that specific grants have been terminated but others are simply anticipating future increased costs or that some grants may not be renewed. In some cases, U.S. Department of Justice attorneys wrote in court filings, the various grant recipients haven't even requested payment of the grants yet. Disputes over personnel claims, like employee terminations or reductions in force, must first be litigated before other entities before they can be brought to federal court, the attorneys wrote, suggesting the states were trying to 'jump the line.' ___
