Coalition of Attorneys General Take Action to Enforce Court Order Stopping Trump Administration’s Funding Freeze
The Attorneys General in both Maryland and Delaware are among a coalition of 22 AGs in filing a second motion for enforcement in their ongoing lawsuit against the Trump administration’s freeze of federal funding. In spite of multiple court orders, the administration has continued to block hundreds of millions of dollars in grants to the states from FEMA, which the AGs say threatens emergency preparedness and recovery programs. A temporary restraining order was granted blocking the implementation of the freeze, however the administration continues to withhold essential funding. Friday’s second motion for enforcement seeks a court order to require the release of funds if the Trump administration is unable to provide evidence that they have been unfrozen.
Additional information from Maryland AG Brown:
This funding freeze threatens critical emergency preparedness and recovery programs to address wildfires, floods, cybersecurity threats, and more.
“FEMA funds help Marylanders to rebuild their homes, businesses, and lives after natural disasters,” said Attorney General Brown. “Withholding this money from Maryland – despite a court order – would threaten our State’s ability to respond to emergencies like fires and floods.”
Attorney General Brown and the coalition sued the administration over the freeze on January 28, and on January 31, the court granted the attorneys general’s request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) blocking the freeze’s implementation until further order from the court. On February 7, the coalition filed motions for enforcement and a preliminary injunction to stop the illegal freeze until the case resolves and to preserve federal funding that families, communities, and states rely on. On February 10, the court granted that first motion for enforcement, ordering the administration to immediately comply with the TRO and stop freezing federal funds.
Despite the TRO, Attorney General Brown and the coalition have found that the administration continues to withhold essential funding, and that states, grantees, and programs are continuing to experience a significant lack of access to funds, putting lives and jobs at risk. The funding that remains frozen includes hundreds of millions of dollars in FEMA grants to essential state programs that are responsible for wildfire prevention response, cybersecurity, flood mitigation, and emergency management.
Attorney General Brown and the coalition’s second motion for enforcement, filed today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, seeks a court order to require the release of funds if the Trump administration is unable to provide evidence that they have been unfrozen.
Attorney General Brown was joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai‛i, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin in filing the lawsuit.