( April 2, 2026, 3:58 PM EDT) -- DETROIT — A federal judge in Michigan has granted the U.S. government permission to file an interlocutory appeal to the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals of the lower court’s denial of the government’s motion to dismiss the Flint water crisisFederal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) lawsuit pursuant to the discretionary function exception (DFE) related to sovereign immunity. The judge also gave the government permission to appeal a separate ruling denying its bid to dismiss the case under the FTCA’s private liability requirement related to what is called the Good Samaritan doctrine, saying that immediate appellate court review is appropriate....