An update re: the BRIC Lawsuit
District Court judge issues preliminary injunction against DHS and FEMA
A few weeks ago I wrote about a lawsuit filed by 20 states against FEMA and the federal government over the cancelation of the BRIC program. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns issued a preliminary injunction that stops FEMA from spending BRIC funds for other purposes until his court is able to issue a judgement on the suit.
A few notes from the judge’s order:
The federal government has since argued that it is not, in-fact, ending the BRIC program but merely reviewing it (despite issuing a press release - since deleted - saying it was ending it). Judge Stearns found this argument to be unconvincing, saying that “Although the Government equivocates about whether it has, in fact, ended the BRIC Program, the States’ evidence…portends the conclusion that the determination has in fact been made and that FEMA is inching towards a fait accompli.”
Despite the government’s arguments, the court was not convinced that Congress gave DHS “any discretion to reallocate funds from the BRIC account” or to “regulate the timing of when unobligated funds can be withdrawn from a project.”
The judge finds that the States have shown that the “balance of hardship and public interest” tips in their favor, because there is “an inherent public interest in ensuring that the government follows the law” and significant potential for hardship to the states if BRIC funds were reallocated (i.e. they would disappear). So while it is frustrating to BRIC recipients that the funds are currently in limbo, they will at least remain in limbo for now rather than being permanently reallocated to the Disaster Relief Fund and spent on any number of ongoing disaster efforts.