U.S. District Judge Mary S. McElroy, who has already shown a pattern of siding against President Trump’s efforts to restore fiscal sanity to bloated federal agencies, has once again stepped in to block the administration’s attempt to pause taxpayer-funded grants tied to climate change and so-called “modernization” projects.
This latest move came Tuesday when McElroy sided with environmental activist groups, ruling that the Trump administration had overstepped its bounds by freezing certain grants issued through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Energy Department, and other federal offices. These grants, according to the left, are meant to combat “climate change,” reduce pollution, and modernize infrastructure—but to many Americans, they sound like another excuse to shovel billions into DEI-driven green slush funds.
In her ruling, McElroy declared:
“Agencies do not have unlimited authority to further a President’s agenda, nor do they have unfettered power to hamstring in perpetuity two statutes passed by Congress during the previous administration.”
In plain English, she’s telling the Trump administration that even when elected with a clear mandate, the president must answer to unelected bureaucrats and judges appointed by prior Democrat regimes.
The Trump administration’s position, however, is clear. Officials argue they have every legal right to pause grant funding—especially when it’s been weaponized to serve radical ideological goals—and to redirect those funds to projects that better serve the American taxpayer. The Department of Justice also emphasized that a previous Supreme Court decision backing Trump’s cancellation of DEI teacher training grants should bolster their legal authority here.
Still, McElroy, a Rhode Island judge with long-standing ties to Democrat politics, ruled against the Trump administration. And this wasn’t her first rodeo.
Earlier this month, Judge McElroy granted a request from Democrat state officials in Rhode Island to temporarily block the Trump administration’s efforts to cut state health grants—part of a broader push to rein in over $11 billion in questionable funding streams.
“The harm to the plaintiff states and the plaintiff agencies if we cease that … is clearly irreparable,” McElroy claimed, siding with state attorneys over Trump’s HHS department.
The Trump administration had been moving aggressively to dismantle the bloated infrastructure left behind by Biden, Obama, and their allies—cutting DEI programs, unnecessary “environmental justice” grants, and overlapping health initiatives that have ballooned federal spending without delivering meaningful results.
But McElroy has consistently placed herself as a roadblock to that progress.
McElroy’s deep blue roots aren’t exactly a secret. She’s been involved with Democrat politics since her teenage years:
- Handed out flyers for Julius V. Michaelson’s U.S. Senate campaign in 1982
- Served as a delegate page at the 1984 Democrat National Convention
- Volunteered for James E. O’Neil’s campaign for Rhode Island Attorney General
- Officially listed as a member of the Rhode Island Democrat Party from 1984 to 1986
In her own words, written in her Senate questionnaire:
“I participated in efforts to encourage young people to register to vote and to become involved in the political process and support the electoral efforts of Democrat candidates.”
President Obama first nominated McElroy to the federal bench in 2015. That nomination expired, but President Trump—likely under pressure from Senate dealmakers—nominated her again in 2018. In hindsight, that bipartisan courtesy might now seem like a costly mistake.
Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), who voted against McElroy’s confirmation in the Judiciary Committee in 2019, is leading the charge to rein in judges like her who try to override the will of the American people.
In March, Lee introduced the Judicial Insurrectionists Act of 2025, aimed at stopping activist judges from issuing sweeping rulings that effectively shut down presidential authority.
“America’s government cannot function if the legitimate orders of our Commander in Chief can be overridden at the whim of a single district court judge,” Lee stated.
“They have presumed to run the military, the civil service, foreign aid, and HR departments across the Executive Branch—blatantly unconstitutional overreach.”
Lee’s bill would establish a three-judge panel to fast-track Supreme Court reviews when a district judge tries to block presidential action, restoring balance to the branches of government.
“This legislation will create a judicial panel to expedite Supreme Court review of these blanket injunctions, preventing unelected radicals in robes from sabotaging the separation of powers.”
Once again, President Trump’s efforts to rein in wasteful government spending—particularly the radical climate and DEI agenda—are being thwarted by Democrat-appointed judges eager to preserve the legacy of the Obama and Biden years. Judge McElroy’s activist record speaks for itself, and now more than ever, voters are seeing the urgent need to take back control of the courts and hold unelected officials accountable.
As the Trump administration continues to push for accountability, expect more resistance—but also expect more Americans to rally behind the president’s efforts to clean house in Washington.
We, the people elect our president to be the commander-in-chief of the United States of America, and to protect us from inside and outside enemies of the American way of life.
These judges are not elected to their positions. They do not have the power to rule over our elected president of the United States, esp. for their own personal agenda.
I urge the greatest president in my lifetime, President Donald Trump of the United States of America in his administration to disregard these orders from these corrupt activist, judges, and go on with what we the people elected them to do!
These unelected activist judges, and the American and America hating Democratic Party politicians are trying to slow down President Trump‘s save America agenda so that the people will become angry at President Trump for not getting done what he said he would do for America and thus vote Democratic.
Thank you for your powerful message. Like many of our readers, we’re fed up with unelected activist judges trying to overrule the will of the American people. President Trump was chosen by we the people to defend our country and restore our freedoms—not to answer to rogue courts pushing political agendas.
These attempts to block his agenda only prove how effective he is. We stand with patriots like you who refuse to back down. Stay strong, stay loud—America’s future depends on it.
God bless!