A federal judge in Boston has ruled the Trump administration unlawfully attempted to end FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, finding the move encroached on Congress’s appropriation powers. Judge Richard Stearns previously blocked FEMA from diverting more than $4 billion earmarked for BRIC and has now barred the program’s cancellation as currently structured. BRIC, FEMA’s largest pre-disaster mitigation program, had approved about $4.5 billion for nearly 2,000 projects over four years, many in coastal states.
Federal Judge Rules Trump Administration Illegally Ended FEMA’s BRIC Program, Preserving Billions for Pre-Disaster Projects
U.S. District Court Judge Richard Stearns attends the Investiture Ceremony for U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy at the federal courthouse in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., September 17, 2025. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
Boston, Dec. 11 — A federal judge in Boston has ruled that the Trump administration acted unlawfully when it moved to terminate a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant program that funds measures to protect states and communities from natural disasters before they occur.
Judge Blocks Cancellation, Cites Congressional Authority
U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns sided with a coalition of 20 mostly Democratic-led states, finding the administration lacked the authority to end the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program or to repurpose funds Congress had appropriated for it. Stearns said the decision amounted to an "unlawful executive encroachment on the prerogative of Congress to appropriate funds for a specific and compelling purpose."
"The 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."
Background and Impact
The Department of Homeland Security unit that includes FEMA announced in April it would end BRIC, describing the program as wasteful, ineffective and politicized. That move prompted lawsuits by states and other parties.
BRIC is FEMA’s largest pre-disaster mitigation program, funding state and local projects to protect major infrastructure — including roads, bridges and coastal defenses — from floods, hurricanes and other hazards. According to the lawsuit, FEMA approved roughly $4.5 billion in grants for nearly 2,000 projects over the past four years, many concentrated in coastal states.
Legal Timeline
Earlier in the litigation, in August, Judge Stearns issued an order preventing FEMA from diverting more than $4 billion that had been allocated to BRIC to other uses. On Thursday he went further, blocking the cancellation of the program as it is currently constituted.
States led by Washington and Massachusetts brought the suit in July, arguing the program’s termination would have severe consequences for public safety, infrastructure resilience and long-term disaster preparedness. Plaintiffs say ending BRIC had already forced communities nationwide to delay, scale back or cancel hundreds of mitigation projects.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately reply to requests for comment on the latest ruling.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
