This is pure bias.
A federal judge on Tuesday stepped in to block a Trump administration policy tied to federal disaster-preparedness funding, siding with Democratic-led states that sued to stop the changes.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Amy Potter ruled that the administration cannot withhold emergency planning grants from states that decline to recalculate population figures based on recent deportations. The decision also stops a separate effort to sharply reduce the amount of time states have to use the federal funds.
According to the ruling, the Trump administration improperly shortened the spending window for two major grant programs from three years to just one. Potter concluded that the changes were not supported by sufficient legal justification and therefore could not stand.
“Even giving Defendants the benefit of the doubt, the Court finds the reasoning for each change to be lacking,” Potter wrote.
The lawsuit was filed last month by a group of Democrat-controlled states in federal court in Oregon. The case challenges new conditions placed on two grant programs administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
One program, known as Emergency Management Performance Grants, provides funding to help states prepare for natural disasters and major emergencies. The money is commonly used for equipment purchases, training first responders, and educating communities on emergency preparedness.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration added a requirement that states certify their population totals as of September 30, excluding individuals who had been deported from the country. Administration officials argued the change would help ensure federal funds are distributed more accurately.
The judge rejected that argument, writing that the administration failed to explain why excluding deported individuals — while not accounting for people who move between states — would improve funding accuracy compared to long-standing Census Bureau data.
The lawsuit also targets changes to the Homeland Security Grant Program, which provides funding to help states prevent and recover from acts of terrorism and other serious threats.
Under the administration’s revised rules, states would have had only one year to use the funds instead of the previous three-year period. The administration said the shorter timeline would allow FEMA to monitor spending more closely and reallocate unused funds faster.
Potter disagreed, stating that the shortened timeframe would make it extremely difficult for states to realistically use the money provided by law.
“Without backdating, the change in the performance period makes it functionally impossible for Plaintiff States to use the funding allocated by statute,” she wrote.
The ruling temporarily blocks the policy while the case moves forward, setting up yet another legal battle over executive authority, immigration enforcement, and the growing influence of the federal judiciary.