A federal judge who has ruled twice to halt executive actions by President Donald Trump previously gave about $500,000 in campaign contributions to Democrats
The judge, U.S. District Judge John McConnell of the District of Rhode Island, will also preside over yet another case involving Trump. All three cases involve federal funding.
In one case, McConnell sided with a coalition of Democrat state attorneys general to stop a federal funding freeze. In another, he sided with the state of Rhode Island regarding federal funding cuts.
Next, McConnell will be ruling on a separate case brought by 20 Democrat state attorneys general against the Trump administration for threatening to withhold federal funds from jurisdictions that do not enforce federal immigration law, in the case of California v. U.S. Department of Transportation. McConnell is a Barack Obama appointee.
McConnell’s contributions include $28,500 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which funds House candidates, in 2008, according to Open Secrets, which monitors money in politics. He contributed $25,000 toward the election of North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp in 2000, $12,500 to the Washington State Democratic Party in 2008; $10,000 to the Rhode Island Democratic Party in 2004; and $7,500 to then-Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle reelection in 2006.
In total, he contributed $190,000 to members of Congress and at least $200,000 combined to the Democrat Party at the national and state level, CQ Roll Call reported. The donations came before he ascended to the federal bench.
Obama nominated McConnell for the judgeship in March 2010, but the Senate didn’t confirm him until May 2011 by a 50-44 vote.
The judge’s wife, Sara Shea McConnell, has also been a major donor to Democrats, according to both Open Secrets and Roll Call, contributing $250,000 to Democrat candidates. She also contributed $4,200 to the campaigns of Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.
Her other contributions include $26,200 to the Democratic National Committee in 2008; $12,500 to the Washington State Democratic Party in 2008; $11,0000 to the Rhode Island Democratic Party in 2006; and $5,000 to Heitkamp in 2000.
During the Joe Biden administration, the judge’s daughter Catherine McConnell worked in the U.S. Department of Education as a senior policy adviser for the office of career, technical, and adult education, and before that as a special assistant in the office of planning, evaluation and policy development for the Education Department.
Before working in the federal government, the younger McConnell worked as an education policy adviser for Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo, who went on to be Biden’s secretary of commerce.
In December 2021, Catherine McConnell contributed $250 to the campaign of Democrat James Diossa for Rhode Island general treasurer in the 2022 election cycle.
McConnell was a former treasurer of the Rhode Island Democratic Committee and chaired the campaign of Providence Mayor David Cicilline, according to the Providence Journal. Cicilline was later elected to the U.S. House.
The judge previously rejected a lawsuit to remove candidate Trump from Rhode Island’s 2024 ballot. But since becoming president, Trump has been 0-2 in McConnell’s courtroom.
In May, McConnell temporarily stopped Trump from cutting funding for the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Minority Business Development Agency and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, because all three agencies were created by Congress in the case of State of Rhode Island v. Trump.
In March, McConnell granted a temporary injunction in favor of 22 states and the District of Columbia to stop the spending freeze by Trump, in the case of State of New York v. Trump. Rhode Island was one of the states which created controversy.
Rep. Andy Clyde, R-Ga., introduced an impeachment resolution against McConnell in March, that accuses McConnell of a conflict of interest.
The resolution isn’t likely to go anywhere, but claims the judge’s board membership with the charity Crossroads Rhode Island, which gets state funding, allegedly could keep him from being impartial.
“There is a clear conflict of interest given that Chief Judge John James McConnell Jr. presided over and made a decision regarding a case which significantly impacts the funding of an organization in which he serves as a director of and as a fiduciary,” the Clyde impeachment resolution says.
In May, America First Legal, a pro-Trump legal organization, filed a judicial complaint against McConnell with Chief Judge David Barron of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, regarding McConnell ruling in the case despite his board membership.
McConnell is listed as a board member for Crossroads Rhode Island’s Form 990 filing with the Internal Revenue Service.
McConnell declined to comment.
Frank Perry, the chief deputy clerk for the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island and the public information officer for the court said in an email to The Daily Signal: “Judge McConnell very much appreciates your question and often sits down with members of the media upon request. However, he does not speak with the media or answer questions along these lines while he is presiding over cases involving the Administration.”
After a follow up email, Perry replied: “Judge McConnell has no comment on the article or the impeachment resolution. As a sitting federal judge, he remains committed to upholding the impartiality and integrity of the judiciary.”
Rhode Island Bar Association President Christopher Gontarz previously issued a statement in defense of Judge McConnell, WPRI 12 in Providence reported and called him a “a well-respected jurist.”
“While a careful analysis of judicial decisions is always warranted, it should avoid ad hominem partisanship and sensationalist rhetoric that are favored on the internet and in television sound bites,” Gontarz said. “The criticism of his decision is unfounded and demonstrates a disregard for the rule of law and judicial independence.”
He added, “While public officials have the right to criticize the work of the judiciary, they must recognize that the intemperance in their statements, particularly when it comes to judges, may prompt dangerous reactions by others.”
Currently, California Attorney General Rob Bonta is leading a coalition of 20 Democrat state attorneys general centered on the Trump administration withholding federal transportation from states that don’t enforce immigration law.
The case of California v. USDOT was filed in May in the District of Rhode Island, with McConnell presiding.
In April, Trump signed an executive order that directed federal agencies to document what sanctuary cities or counties are not complying with immigration law. A White House statement on the order said, “Sanctuary jurisdictions that do not comply with federal law may lose federal funding.”
When announcing the lawsuit, Bonta said Trump lacks the authority to “coerce” states on immigration policy, and that “his latest attempt to bully them into doing so is blatantly illegal.”
