The Trump administration unlawfully revoked a grant program that helped states protect against potential damage from natural disasters, a federal judge ruled Thursday.
The decision by Judge Richard Stearns of the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts is a victory for more than 20 Democratic-led states that filed suit in July to salvage the nation’s largest disaster preparedness program.
The lawsuit accused the administration of illegally ending the multibillion-dollar Federal Emergency Management Agency program, which was established by Congress in 2018 and signed into law by President Donald Trump in his first term.
FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program “is designed to protect against natural disasters and save lives,” Stearns wrote. “It need not be gainsaid that the imminence of disasters is not deterred by bureaucratic obstruction.”
