Attorney General James Takes Action to Stop Trump from Withholding Critical Disaster Relief Funding

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today led a coalition of 22 other attorneys general in seeking a court order to force the Trump administration to unfreeze essential funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Despite multiple court orders, including a preliminary injunction issued on March 6 blocking the Trump administration from unlawfully freezing federal funds, the administration continues to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars in grants to states from FEMA. This funding freeze threatens life-saving emergency preparedness and recovery programs addressing wildfires, floods, cybersecurity threats, and more. Attorney General James and the coalition today filed a motion to enforce the preliminary injunction, seeking a court order requiring the administration to immediately unfreeze FEMA funds.

“The Trump administration is putting lives at risk by continuing to freeze disaster relief and emergency preparedness funds to states,” said Attorney General James. “We sued to stop the administration’s reckless and illegal funding freeze, and the court has repeatedly ruled that the essential funding our communities rely on must be restored. I will continue to fight to uphold our laws and protect the resources we need to keep New Yorkers safe.”

The administration’s funding freeze policy, issued through an array of actions including a January 27 memorandum from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), illegally withheld trillions of dollars in federal funds for states and other entities like nonprofit organizations and community health centers. In the days after the policy was first issued, New York and other states could not access Medicaid dollars. Funding for nonprofit groups that provide care for homeless veterans in New York City was also put on hold.

Most recently, withheld FEMA funds have jeopardized public safety, disaster response, and emergency preparedness throughout the country. In New York, tens of millions of dollars in federal grants to the New York Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES) to support disaster preparedness and recovery programs have been frozen. As Attorney General James and the coalition assert in the motion to enforce, further freezing of FEMA funds would end disaster relief efforts and support for more than 4,000 survivors of the 2023 Maui wildfires. 

Attorney General James and the coalition sued the administration over its freeze of trillions of dollars in federal funds 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, Attorney General James and the coalition filed motions for enforcement and a preliminary injunction to stop the illegal funding freeze. On February 28, Attorney General James and the coalition filed a second motion for enforcement seeking to stop the Trump administration from freezing hundreds of millions of dollars in grants to the states from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). On March 6, Attorney General James and the coalition won a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from unlawfully freezing federal funds to the states. As part of the preliminary injunction, the court required the administration to provide evidence of having unfrozen FEMA funds by March 14. These funds continue to be withheld.

This effort is led by Attorney General James and the attorneys general of California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Rhode Island. Joining the coalition are the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.