Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is leading a charge with a coalition of 20 states in a lawsuit against the Trump Administration, concerning the abrupt termination of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program. According to the Arizona Attorney General's office, this move by the administration has halted the flow of approximately $9.8 million intended for disaster mitigation funding in Arizona alone.
"The Trump Administration has demonstrated outright hostility toward helping states with disaster relief in attempts to slash FEMA. Support for our states and our ability to fight disasters, like those that we see during wildfire season, is incredibly important," Mayes said, emphasizing the critical need for these funds during high-risk times for natural calamities. The BRIC program has historically buttressed community infrastructure projects, aimed at preventing the devastating impacts of natural disasters before they strike, for over 30 years now. Projects such as a $4.6 million infrastructure job in Buckeye, Arizona, and an $860,000 flood mitigation project in Camp Verde were directly affected.
With BRIC program support, these projects served as vital preventive measures for communities in Arizona, ensuring roads stayed safe for emergency vehicles and reducing the risk of flood damage. The termination of the program left not just Arizona, but communities nationwide, in a lurch, with many having to delay, scale back, and even cancel essential disaster mitigation initiatives.
The lawsuit argues that FEMA's decision goes against Congress's funding directives, a clear overstep of the Executive Branch's authority. Attorney General Mayes, together with other states, contends that "The Executive Branch has no lawful authority to unilaterally refuse to spend funds appropriated by Congress," as revealed in the statement. They also argue that the program's cessation not only breaches the Separation of Powers but also goes against the Administrative Procedures Act and the Appointments Clause, as the acting FEMA Administrator, Cameron Hamilton, was not confirmed by the Senate.
The coalition seeks a preliminary injunction to prevent the redirected use of BRIC funds and a permanent injunction to overturn the BRIC program's termination. Other states involved in this legal action alongside Arizona include the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
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