Attorney General Charity Clark, along with attorneys general from 22 other states and two governors, has filed a motion requesting that the District Court of Massachusetts enforce its previous order against the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The order, issued on December 11, 2025, prohibited FEMA from ending the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Program (BRIC) and required the agency to reverse its termination.
The BRIC program has operated for three decades, providing funding to help communities strengthen their infrastructure before natural disasters occur. This focus on mitigation and resilience has been credited with saving lives and reducing costs associated with disaster recovery.
In July 2025, Attorney General Clark and her coalition initiated legal action after FEMA moved to terminate BRIC. The lawsuit argued that this action had already delayed or canceled hundreds of projects nationwide. On December 11, 2025, the court sided with the coalition, finding FEMA’s decision unlawful and ordering immediate steps to restore the program.
Despite this ruling, more than two months have passed without clear action from FEMA. According to the coalition’s filing, regional offices lack information about when or if BRIC will resume. Some offices have indicated that FEMA is adopting a “wait and see” approach instead of following the court’s directive. The federal government has not outlined any concrete measures taken to comply with the order.
Attorney General Clark said that she and her colleagues are asking the court “to enforce the December 11 order by requiring the federal government to make pre-disaster mitigation funds available as required by statute, communicate the status and next steps for current BRIC projects to the states, communicate the reversal of the BRIC termination to all relevant stakeholders, and file status reports with the court outlining any actions taken or planned to comply with the order.”
The motion was joined by attorneys general from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Wisconsin and Washington. Governors from Pennsylvania and Kentucky also participated in filing.
A copy of the motion can be found on Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark’s website.
