A coalition of 20 U.S. states, mostly led by Democrats, has filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s abrupt termination of a major FEMA grant program aimed at protecting communities from natural disasters. Filed in a Boston federal court, the lawsuit argues that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) lacked legal authority to end the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program without congressional approval.
The BRIC program, established in 2018, provides federal funding to states for disaster resilience infrastructure projects such as flood defenses, evacuation shelters, and bridge reinforcements. It covers up to 75% of project costs—or 90% for rural areas—and has allocated $4.5 billion to nearly 2,000 projects in the last four years.
Led by Washington and Massachusetts, the states contend that FEMA’s cancellation of BRIC in April violated the U.S. Constitution’s separation of powers. They argue that Congress had already approved and funded the program, making the administration’s unilateral decision unlawful. The lawsuit also claims that the officials who oversaw the termination—Cameron Hamilton and David Richardson—lacked proper appointment authority.
FEMA justified the program’s cancellation by calling it “wasteful, ineffective, and politicized.” However, bipartisan lawmakers urged FEMA in May to restore the grants, emphasizing their importance for vulnerable rural and tribal communities.
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell stressed that the catastrophic Texas floods, which killed over 130 people, underscore the urgent need for federal disaster preparedness funding. The lawsuit seeks a preliminary injunction to reinstate the BRIC program while legal proceedings continue.
This legal action follows another lawsuit in May challenging FEMA’s move to link emergency preparedness funding to immigration enforcement cooperation, signaling broader resistance to the Trump administration’s disaster funding policies.