AG: Judge grants injunction against Trump’s cuts to disaster funding

SEATTLE — A federal judge today barred the Trump administration from spending disaster mitigation funds tied to a program the president illegally shut down as the court considers a lawsuit brought by Washington Attorney General Nick Brown and 19 other states.

The states sued in July after the administration shut down the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s bipartisan program to protect communities from natural disasters before they strike, known as Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC). The states requested and the judge granted an order barring the government from spending those funds for non-BRIC purposes until the court can issue a final judgment.

The coalition of attorneys general argues FEMA’s decision to abruptly terminate the BRIC program is in direct violation of Congress’s decision to fund it. States are still fighting to have the program resume.

“FEMA’s termination of this bipartisan program defies both law and logic,” Brown said. “Congress created this fund because America’s towns are already struggling with mounting challenges from climate change.”

Over the past four years, FEMA has selected nearly 2,000 projects to receive roughly $4.5 billion in BRIC funding nationwide. 

In Washington state, there are 27 open BRIC projects that total $182 million and nearly three quarters of that funding goes to small towns and rural communities. 

This money funds projects like constructing levees and floodwalls in Aberdeen and Hoquiam and generating electricity in Klickitat County for hospitals and school districts if the power goes out during wildfires and severe weather.

A copy of the injunction can be found here.