UPDATE 1-US judge blocks Trump administration from diverting disaster prevention grants

A federal judge blocked the Trump administration on Tuesday from diverting funds from a multibillion-dollar grant program designed to protect communities against natural disasters. U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns in Boston issued a preliminary injunction preventing the government from spending money allocated to the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program for other purposes.

Twenty mostly Democratic-led states sued the administration last month, saying the Federal Emergency Management Agency lacked power to cancel the BRIC program without congressional approval. FEMA is part of the Department of Homeland Security. Neither agency immediately responded to requests for comment.

Created in 2018 during Republican President Donald Trump's first term, the BRIC program helps state and local governments protect major infrastructure such as roads and bridges before the occurrence of floods, hurricanes and other disasters. According to the lawsuit, FEMA approved about $4.5 billion in grants for nearly 2,000 projects, primarily in coastal states, over the last four years.

But the agency announced in April it would end the program, calling it wasteful, ineffective and politicized. Stearns said that while FEMA does not appear to have since canceled grants, states shouldn't have to wait to sue until after they lose funding, while the cancellation of new grants suggested FEMA considered an eventual shutdown a fait accompli.

He also said the states have shown a realistic chance of irreparable harm if the BRIC program ended. "There is an inherent public interest in ensuring that the government follows the law, and the potential hardship accruing to the states from the funds being repurposed is great," the judge wrote.

"The BRIC program is designed to protect against natural disasters and save lives," Stearns added. "The potential hardship to the government, in contrast, is minimal." Led by Massachusetts and Washington, the 20 states that sued also include Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.

The offices of Massachusetts' and Washington's attorneys general had no immediate comment.

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