The American judge prevents Trump officials from transferring disaster prevention Trump administration
On Tuesday, the Trump administration’s judge prevented the transfer of funds from a millions of dollars grants designed to protect societies from natural disasters.
The American boycott judge, Richard Sterins, in Boston, issued a preliminary judicial order preventing the government from spending funds allocated to infrastructure and flexible societies (BRIC) for other purposes.
20 states led by Democrats filed a lawsuit against the administration last month, saying that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) lacks power to cancel the BRIC program without the approval of Congress.
Fema is part of the Ministry of Internal Security (DHS). None of the agency immediately responded to the suspension requests.
The BRIC program was created in 2018 during the term of Donald Trump, and helps government governments and local governments to protect major infrastructure such as roads and bridges before floods, hurricanes and other disasters.
According to the lawsuit, FEMA has approved about $ 4.5 billion in grants for about 2000 projects, primarily in coastal states, over the past four years.
But the agency announced in April that it would finish the program, describing it with waste, ineffective and abusive.
Stirins said that although it does not seem that the Fema has since been canceled, the states should not have to wait to prosecute until after the financing was lost, while canceling the new grants suggested that the FEMA is ultimately closed.
He also said that the states showed a realistic opportunity for an irreplaceable damage if the BRIC program ends.
The judge wrote: “There is a public interest inherent in ensuring that the government follows the law, and the potential difficulties that accumulate on countries from the money that are reused are wonderful.”
“The BRIC Program is designed to protect against natural disasters and save lives.” “The potential difficulties of the government, in contrast, are minimal.”
Under the state of Massachusetts and Washington, the twenty states also include Arizona, California, Colorado, Concitect, Dillauer, Illinois, Maine, Merilland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Roud Island, Vermont and Wescunsin.
Massachusetts lawyers and two years in Washington’s attorneys’ offices were not an immediate comment.