Attorney General Aaron M. Frey Secures Court Victory Preventing Trump Administration from Unlawfully Cutting Billions in Disaster Preparedness Funding

MAINE, December 11 - Back to current news.

December 11, 2025
Attorney Generals Office

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Contact: Danna Hayes 

Danna.hayes@maine.gov

Vanessa Sperry, Public Information Officer 

Maine Emergency Management Agency

Vanessa.sperry@maine.gov 

Attorney General Aaron M. Frey Secures Court Victory Preventing Trump Administration from Unlawfully Cutting Billions in Disaster Preparedness Funding 

Court Order Prevents Trump Administration from Illegally Shutting Down the FEMA BRIC Program

AUGUSTA – Attorney General Aaron M. Frey and a coalition of 20 states today won their lawsuit against the Trump Administration over its unlawful attempt to shut down the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) bipartisan Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, designed to protect communities from natural disasters before they strike.  

For the past 30 years, the BRIC program has provided communities across the nation with resources to proactively fortify their infrastructure against natural disasters.   By focusing on mitigation, the program protects lives, communities, and property — supporting state, tribal, and local governments to prevent the harms of disasters, rather than just recovering from them.

“In Maine, we know we will see ice storms, floods, and nor’easters. This win means that our communities will be able to continue preparing for natural disasters instead of just reacting to them,” said Attorney General Frey. “It is obvious that the work to prepare for extreme weather events is essential for a safe and healthy state. We were not going to look the other way while the Administration deprives us of the ability to prepare.”   

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Congress passed a law mandating that FEMA must protect communities through four interrelated functions – mitigation, preparation, response, and recovery. The BRIC program is the core of FEMA’s mitigation efforts. BRIC projects are required to be cost-effective, and a recent study concluded that every dollar FEMA spends on mitigation saves an average of six dollars in post-disaster costs.  

“Securing the continuation of federal mitigation funding through the BRIC program is a critical step for Maine’s communities to prepare for future disasters. We’re relieved by the court’s decision and remain committed to ensuring that Maine can access the resources it needs to build safer, more resilient infrastructure,” said Pete Rogers, Director of Maine Emergency Management Agency.

The BRIC program supports often difficult-to-fund projects, such as constructing evacuation shelters and flood walls, safeguarding utility grids against wildfires, protecting wastewater and drinking water infrastructure, and fortifying bridges, roadways, and culverts.  Over the past four years, FEMA has selected nearly 2,000 projects to receive roughly $4.5 billion in BRIC funding nationwide. 

Today’s court decision affirms the coalition’s position that FEMA’s decision to abruptly terminate the BRIC program is in direct violation of Congress’s decision to fund it, and that the Executive Branch has no lawful authority to unilaterally refuse to spend funds appropriated by Congress. The judge also concluded that FEMA’s actions violate Separation of Powers, the Appropriations and Spending Clauses and the Administrative Procedure Act. 

The decision prevents FEMA from terminating the BRIC program and requires the restoration of these critical funds to the communities relying on them.  

Joining AG Frey in filing this lawsuit, which was co-led by Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell and Washington Attorney General Nick Brown, are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin and the governors of Kentucky and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 

AG Frey extends his thanks to staff at the Maine Emergency Management Agency, which administers the BRIC program in Maine, for their commitment to protecting our state and for the invaluable assistance they provided in this litigation.

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