A court fight against FEMA brought by 22 states and the District of Columbia has finally produced the result the states sought. FEMA has been forced to comply with a court order to restore $1 billion in funding for the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program and to accept a strict timetable for allocating the funds.
The agency announced on March 25 that it will now accept applications for the funds due in fiscal years 2024 and 2025 – but with some new priorities.
As noted in a December 11, 2025, court order by federal District Judge Richard G. Stearns of Massachusetts, "The BRIC program provides financial and technical assistance to State and local governments for cost-effective pre-disaster hazard mitigation measures that reduce injuries, loss of life, and damage and destruction of property." It is funded by direct appropriations from Congress.
While accepting the Court's finding, FEMA's press release announced some changes.
It will fund construction projects that are ready to implement, move money faster by eliminating phased projects and modifying its scoring system, as well as remove funding for hazard mitigation planning and non-financial direct technical assistance provisions to shift responsibility to states, territories and tribal nations.
The case arose after Cameron Hamilton, FEMA's acting administrator, issued a press release on April 4, announcing that the BRIC program was ending and the funds that would have been awarded would be returned to the Treasury or the Disaster Relief Fund.
The participating states argued that FEMA's action violated the separation of powers, Congressional appropriations and laws requiring the agency to provide each state with a minimum amount of mitigation funding each fiscal year.
Judge Stearns agreed. He held that the states had demonstrated that FEMA's actions would result in "irreparable harm for which monetary damages would provide inadequate compensation."
"This is not a case about judicial encroachment on the discretionary authority of the Executive Branch. This is a case about unlawful Executive encroachment on the prerogative of Congress to appropriate funds for a specific and compelling purpose, and no more than that," Judge Stearns ruled.
On March 6 this year, the judge was forced to issue another court order after finding that FEMA had no intention of issuing the required Notices of Funding Opportunity for the BRIC program. He then issued a timeline for the agency to implement the order.
"Today's order will allow critical mitigation projects that protect us against floods, wildfires, power outages and other disasters to proceed," said Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell.
She added that over the previous four years, FEMA had selected almost 2,000 projects nationwide to receive about $4.5 billion in BRIC funding, and that communities had been waiting for the funds to take action.
An analysis by the Pew Charitable Trusts in 2025 found that in some states' most catastrophic years, federal assistance was probably critical to avoiding exhaustion of their reserves.
A draft report by a FEMA Review Council, set up by President Trump and seen by The Hill, suggested major changes. They included a 50% staff cut –strongly opposed by some business groups, reserving federal intervention for the largest and most complex events, ensuring that fewer events qualify for disaster aid and shifting the National Flood Insurance Program to the private sector.
Now it is up to the new Secretary for Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, who replaced Kristi Noem, to set out his plans for FEMA. He has said he rejects the idea of eliminating the agency, but what changes he may introduce are not yet known.
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