The Trump administration faces another legal challenge from Democrat-led states over cutting federal grants. Several states filed a lawsuit Wednesday over the cancellation of disaster prevention funds.
A coalition of 19 state attorneys general, all Democrats, and Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, seeking to reverse the Trump administration’s termination of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program. The lawsuit alleges the program’s termination was unlawful, arguing that only Congress can end it and that BRIC’s end has been “devastating” for the states.
“Communities across the country are being forced to delay, scale back, or cancel hundreds of mitigation projects depending on this funding. Projects that have been in development for years, and in which communities have invested millions of dollars for planning, permitting, and environmental review are now threatened,” the lawsuit said. “And in the meantime, Americans across the country face a higher risk of harm from natural disasters.”
The program awarded grants to fund projects in states aimed at attempting to mitigate disaster risks before they happen via infrastructure improvements. The BRIC program funded improvements to bridges, roadways, and other forms of infrastructure that could be vulnerable in a disaster.
The lawsuit also alleged that the Trump administration has unlawfully attempted to refuse to use funds allocated for the program or use those funds for other programs.
“By abruptly and unlawfully shutting down the BRIC program, this administration is abandoning states and local communities that rely on federal funding to protect their residents and, in the event of disaster, save lives,” Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell said in a statement Wednesday.
FEMA did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment on Wednesday.
FEMA terminated the BRIC program in April, saying at the time that grant funds that had not been distributed would be returned to the Disaster Relief Fund or the Treasury Department.
“The BRIC program was yet another example of a wasteful and ineffective FEMA program. It was more concerned with political agendas than helping Americans affected by natural disasters,” a FEMA spokesperson said in April.
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The end of the BRIC program was one part of the Trump administration’s changes to FEMA, as President Donald Trump has promised significant reforms to the agency after previously threatening to disband it.
The lawsuit has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton. The federal district court in Massachusetts has been a popular place for challenges against the Trump administration to be filed, as it tends to lean left.
