The
Trump
administration
had
a
bad
night
in
Boston
followed
by
a
lousy
morning
in
Providence,
as
two
courts
gave
major
side
eye
to
the
DOJ’s
latest
legal
stylings.
Many
people
are
saying
these
pleadings
are
garbage!
They
come
with
tears
in
their
eyes
and
say,
Sir,
we’ve
never
seen
the
Justice
Department
demand
an
immediate
interlocutory
appeal
and
administrative
stay
of
a
TRO
that’s
been
in
place
less
than
two
weeks.
The
latest
benchslaps
arose
in
the
blue
states’
case
to
block
the
freeze
on
dispensing
federal
funds
to
people
President
Trump
and
Grand
Vizier
Musk
don’t
like.
“The
Executive
Branch
has
a
duty
to
align
federal
spending
and
action
with
the
will
of
the
people
as
expressed
through
congressional
appropriations,
not
through
‘Presidential
priorities,’”
Rhode
Island
federal
Judge
John
McConnell
scolded
in
the
January
31 TRO,
reminding
the
feds
that
actually
Congress
has
the
power
of
the
purse.
And
he
reiterated
that
“the
plain
language
of
the
TRO
entered
in
this
case
prohibits
all
categorical
pauses
or
freezes
in
obligations
or
disbursements”
when
he
granted
the
plaintiffs’
emergency
motion to
enforce
after
the
government
was
caught
blatantly
defying
the
first
order.
Judge
McConnell
pointedly
noted
that
parties
who
defy
a
court
order
are
risking
criminal
contempt,
even
if
the
order
is
later
reversed.
This
appears
to
have
gotten
the
attention
of
the
DOJ
lawyers,
who
first
noticed
an
appeal
of
the
TRO
to
the
First
Circuit,
and
then
threw
themselves
histrionically
onto
the
courthouse
steps
in
Boston,
howling
about
a
“broad
incursion
on
the
orderly
operation
of
government
and
the
President’s
Article
II
authority
to
control
the
Executive
Branch.”
The
appellate
panel
expressed
extreme
puzzlement
as
to
whether
they
would
even
have
jurisdiction
to
impose
an
administrative
stay,
but
then,
assuming
that
they
did,
denied
it.
“We
note
in
this
regard
the
plaintiffs’
statement
in
their
Opposition
to
Defendants’
Motion
for
Administrative
Stay
Pending
Appeal
that,
consistent
with
the
TRO,
the
February
10
Order
“does
not
stop
defendants
from
limiting
access
to
funds
without
any
‘preclearance’
from
the
district
court
‘on
the
basis
of
the
applicable
authorizing
statutes,
regulations,
and
terms,’”
they
wrote.
Meanwhile
back
in
Providence,
the
government
was
in
a
bit
of
a
sticky
wicket.
Because
Elon
Musk
and
his
army
of
DOGE
bros
claimed
to
have
discovered
FEMA
paying
to
put
illegal
immigrants
up
in
luxury
hotels.
That
was
bullshit
—
if
you
can
even
believe
it!
—
but
the
brother
in
douche
over
at
FEMA
immediately
promised
to
put
an
end
to
it
and
fire
the
responsible
parties.
Darn
you
Congress
with
your
filthy
BILLS!
This
forced
the
DOJ
to
tiptoe
back
to
Judge
McConnell
and
“request
that
the
Court
provide
‘targeted
relief’
from
its
Orders,
confirming
that
FEMA
may
continue
‘withholding
funds
due
to
specific
authority.’”
This
was
accompanied
by
a
declaration
from
FEMA
bro
Hamilton
which
strangely
made
no
mention
of
Musk’s
false
claims.
Instead
it
referred
to
“media
reports,
the
vicious
Venezuelan
gang
Tren
De
Aragua
has
taken
over
the
hotel
[being
used
to
house
migrants]
and
is
using
it
as
a
recruiting
center
and
base
of
operations
to
plan
a
variety
of
crimes.”
That
claim
is
sourced
to
a
New
York
Post
article
based
on
Spanish
language
TikToks
and
a
report
from
a
local
ABC
affiliate
which
quotes
one
NYPD
detective
claiming
that
there
are
a
handful
of
teen
and
tween
pickpockets
who
live
at
Roosevelt
Hotel
in
midtown
Manhattan
where
migrants
seeking
asylum
are
being
housed
under
FEMA’s
Shelter
and
Service
Programs.
“According
to
these
same
reports,
these
crimes
include
gun
and
drug
sales
as
well
as
sex
trafficking,
which
can
reasonably
be
presumed
to
be
conducted
in
the
hotel
itself,”
Cameron
assures
the
court,
citing
as
evidence
articles
from
the
National
Review
and
Fox
News.
Cameron
purported
to
have
“paused
funding
quickly
in
this
matter
to
protect
that
funding
from
the
potential
for
its
misuse
for
the
illegal
activity
described
above.”
But
in
fact
it
turns
out
that
he’d
done
one
better
than
that.
According
to
a
statement
from
New
York
City
Comptroller
Brad
Lander,
the
Trump
administration
siphoned
off
$80
million
from
the
City’s
bank
account,
retroactively
defunding
the
contract:
This
morning,
my
financial
team
shockingly
uncovered
that
President
Trump
and
his
crony
Elon
Musk
illegally
executed
a
revocation
of
$80
million
in
congressionally-appropriated
FEMA
funding
from
New
York
City’s
bank
accounts
late
yesterday
afternoon.
This
is
money
that
the
federal
government
previously
disbursed
for
shelter
and
services
and
is
now
missing.
This
highway
robbery
of
our
funds
directly
out
of
our
bank
account
is
a
betrayal
of
everyone
who
calls
New
York
City
home.
Lander
called
on
Mayor
Eric
Adams
to
do
something
about
it.
Adams,
who
just
so
happens
to
have
had
his
bribery
charges
dropped
without
prejudice
this
week,
has
said
that
it
would
be
better
not
to
criticize
the
Trump
administration
publicly.
And
in
the
meantime,
Judge
McConnell
denied
the
DOJ’s
request
to
bless
FEMA’s
actions
retroactively,
noting
that
the
government
is
perfectly
entitled
to
cancel
contracts
if,
as
it
warrants,
it
intends
to
provide
“notice
to
New
York
City
regarding
the
funding
pause
and
will
provide
the
information
and
process
required
by
regulation
and
the
terms
and
conditions
of
the
award.”
Gonna
take
a
wild
shot
in
the
dark
that
stealing
$80
million
from
a
commercial
bank
account
and
unilaterally
cutting
off
funding
is
not
the
“routine
process”
laid
out
in
the
agreement.
Anyway,
enjoy
your
constitutional
crisis
courtesy
of
“our
judicial
branch.”
New
York
v.
Trump [Docket
via
Court
Listener]
Liz
Dye lives
in
Baltimore
where
she
produces
the
Law
and
Chaos substack and podcast.