20 States Sue Trump Admin Over Termination of FEMA’s BRIC Program

A coalition of 20 states has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its decision to terminate FEMA's Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, a grant program aimed at protecting communities from natural disasters.

The Details: The lawsuit alleges that FEMA unlawfully terminated the BRIC program without congressional approval. It claims the termination puts lives at risk by making it harder for communities to protect themselves against future extreme weather events. The states involved in the lawsuit are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.

For Context: The BRIC program, established in 2018, replaced a similar FEMA initiative known as the Pre-Disaster Mitigation program. It has funded nearly 2,000 projects with approximately $4.5 billion, saving taxpayers more than $150 billion that would have been spent on rebuilding property damaged or destroyed by disasters. FEMA announced the termination of the BRIC program in April as part of efforts to eliminate "waste, fraud, and abuse."

How The Media Covered It: The New York Times (Lean Left bias) emphasized the impact of the BRIC program's termination on communities and highlighted the major natural disasters that have recently affected states like New Jersey. Washington Examiner (Lean Right) pointed out that all 19 state attorneys general involved in the lawsuit are Democrats. It also noted the lawsuit has been assigned to a judge appointed by former President Bill Clinton in a court that "tends to lean left." The Hill (Center) noted that while the Trump administration signaled a major overhaul at FEMA, it has instead decided to pursue a reform following deadly floods in Texas.

Revised by the AllSides staff (of humans) after a first draft from our custom AI. Learn more. Support our mission. Suggest an improvement to this summary.