20 states, from Washington to North Carolina, are suing FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security for illegally shutting down a program that fortifies communities against disasters before they strike, rather than just responding afterward.
From the lawsuit:
Congress has consistently funded an all-purpose pre-disaster mitigation program—now called Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities, or BRIC—for decades, and explicitly directed FEMA to make mitigation a core part of its mission.
The claims include:
Refusing to spend funds Congress appropriated for BRIC is unlawful.
Moving the BRIC funds out of the National Public Infrastructure Predisaster
Mitigation Fund to spend on other programs is unlawful.
The suit also alleges that "Cameron Hamilton Was Not Lawfully Acting as the FEMA Administrator When He Terminated BRIC."
Here's what the states are asking the court to do:
a. Declare unlawful Defendants’ termination of the BRIC program, withholding of Congressionally appropriated funds, and redirecting funds set aside for the BRIC program to other agency initiatives.
b. Declare that Cameron Hamilton was acting as FEMA Administrator unlawfully when he terminated and implemented the termination of the BRIC program, and that such termination and implementation of the termination were void ab initio.
c. Declare that David Richardson is acting as FEMA Administrator unlawfully and has no legal authority to ratify or implement the termination of the BRIC program.
d. Vacate and set aside Defendants’ termination of the BRIC program, withholding of Congressionally appropriated funds, and redirecting funds set aside for the BRIC program to other agency initiatives.
e. Preliminarily and permanently enjoin Defendants’ termination of the BRIC program, and any action to implement that termination, and restore the status quo as it existed before the termination, including by requiring Defendants to reopen the fiscal year 2024 Notice of Funding Opportunity, evaluate applications, and select recipients in a reasonable time period.
f. Preliminarily and permanently enjoin Defendants from withholding funds Congress has appropriated for pre-disaster mitigation.
g. Preliminarily and permanently enjoin Defendants from obligating, using, expending, or otherwise placing beyond the Court’s jurisdiction the court funds set aside for the BRIC program except for purposes of the BRIC program.
h. Preliminarily enjoin Defendants from obligating, using, expending, or otherwise placing outside the jurisdiction of the court funds Congress appropriated for pre-disaster mitigation programs (including Congressionally directed spending toward particular projects) for programs other than the pre-disaster mitigation program.
i. Preliminarily and permanently enjoin the time-limited expiration of any of the funds appropriated for pre-disaster mitigation to preserve the Court’s jurisdiction and to account for any time during which FEMA was not fully and actively administering the program, which Plaintiffs anticipate will be the amount of time between April 2, 2025 and final judgment.
j. Enjoin defendants from enforcing the period of performance for each BRIC grant and the time under 42 U.S.C. § 5133(f)(3) for any period of time during which FEMA was not fully and actively administering the program, which Plaintiffs anticipate will be the amount of time between April 2, 2025 and final judgment.
k. Permanently enjoin Defendants from implementing the Hamilton Memo and the BRIC termination.
l. Award Plaintiff States their costs and reasonable attorney’s fees; and
m. Award such additional relief as the interests of justice may require.
As the lawsuit notes, BRIC funds have gone to every state in the nation.
FEMA and DHS are putting people in every state at risk - risk to their lives, risk to their property - and they're doing it by breaking the law and violating the Constitution.
