"Federal Judge Blocks FEMA From Canceling Climate Resiliency Grants"

"A Thursday ruling said the Trump administration cannot eliminate the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program without Congress."

"A federal judge in Massachusetts ruled Thursday that the Trump administration could not unilaterally cancel a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant program that states used for disaster preparation, imposing a potential hurdle in the administration’s efforts to tighten FEMA’s purse strings.

Richard G. Stearns, a U.S. District Court judge appointed by President Bill Clinton, said the administration’s decision to cancel the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program was unlawful, citing statutes concerning federal appropriations and FEMA’s legal responsibility to help reduce the damage from disasters.

A group of 22 states sued FEMA in July, three months after the administration canceled the grant program and called it “yet another example of a wasteful and ineffective FEMA program.” The agency said in April that it was canceling all applications to the program for fiscal years 2020-23 and that if grant funds had not been distributed, they would be returned to a larger fund used for FEMA’s disaster recovery work or to the U.S. Treasury."

Scott Dance reports for the New York Times December 11, 2025.