A federal court has ruled in favor of Connecticut Attorney General William Tong and a coalition of 20 states, blocking the Trump Administration’s attempt to end the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program. The BRIC program is designed to help communities prepare for natural disasters before they occur.
The BRIC program has operated for three decades, providing resources that allow communities to strengthen infrastructure against disasters. According to a recent study, each dollar spent by FEMA on mitigation through BRIC saves an average of six dollars in post-disaster costs.
Attorney General Tong commented on the decision: “Donald Trump tried to unilaterally dismantle and defund our government’s ability to prevent and prepare for natural disasters. We sued, and once again, we won,” said Attorney General Tong. “Refusing to prepare for a disaster does not stop nature, does not save lives, and does not save money. This was yet another attempt by Donald Trump to hijack our tax dollars for ballrooms and billionaire tax breaks, and we’re not going to let him get away with it.”
After Hurricane Katrina, Congress required FEMA to focus on mitigation, preparation, response, and recovery. The BRIC program is central to these efforts. It funds projects such as building evacuation shelters and flood walls, protecting utility grids from wildfires, improving wastewater systems, and reinforcing bridges.
Over the last four years, nearly 2,000 projects nationwide have received about $4.5 billion in BRIC funding. Connecticut alone has been awarded tens of millions since 2020 for projects addressing flooding risks and storm surges. If the program had been cancelled as proposed by the Trump Administration, more than $84 million in Connecticut projects would have lost funding—including $42 million intended for Bridgeport’s coastal flood defense system; $900,000 for Stamford’s seawall improvement project; and $25 million for New Haven’s resiliency efforts.
The court found that FEMA’s move to terminate the BRIC program violated Congressional authority over federal spending as well as administrative law principles. The ruling requires FEMA to restore funding under the BRIC program.
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell and Washington Attorney General Nick Brown co-led the lawsuit with Tong. Attorneys general from Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont Wisconsin also joined the case along with Pennsylvania’s governor.