Attorney General Raoul Takes Action To Require Trump Administration To Release Critical Emergency Funding

CHICAGO - Attorney General Kwame Raoul today led a coalition of 22 attorneys general in filing a motion for enforcement in their ongoing lawsuit against the Trump administration’s illegal and destructive freeze of federal funding. Despite multiple court orders, the administration has continued to block hundreds of millions of dollars in grants to the states from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). This funding freeze threatens critical emergency preparedness and recovery programs to address terrorist attacks, mass shootings, wildfires, floods, cybersecurity threats and more.

“Every state relies on federal funding to help rebuild communities and allow families to recover from the devastation caused by natural disasters,” Raoul said. “In recent years, we have seen the increased occurrence and strength of natural disasters, which makes access to federal funds through FEMA perhaps more important than ever. I will continue to join with my fellow attorneys general to oppose these funding freezes and the harm and uncertainty they cause across the nation.”

On Jan. 28, Raoul and the coalition filed a lawsuit against the administration over the freeze. On Jan. 31, the court granted the attorneys general a temporary restraining order (TRO) blocking the freeze’s implementation until further order. On Feb. 7, Raoul and the coalition filed motions for enforcement and a preliminary injunction to stop the illegal freeze and preserve federal funding upon which families, communities and states rely while the case is pending. The court granted the first motion for enforcement on Feb. 8 and ordered the administration to immediately comply with the TRO and stop freezing federal funds.

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Despite the TRO, Attorney General Raoul and the coalition have found that the administration continues to withhold essential funding, and that states, grantees and programs continue to experience a significant lack of access to funds, putting lives and jobs at risk. The funding that remains frozen includes hundreds of millions of dollars in FEMA grants to essential state programs that are responsible for preventing and responding to terrorist attacks, coordinating emergency responses among local police and fire departments, funding SWAT teams and bomb squads, and mitigating risks posed by floods and wildfires. In Illinois alone, over $200 million of federal grants to the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) have been frozen. Those funds are critical to support disaster preparedness and recovery programs.

Raoul and the coalition’s second motion for enforcement, filed today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, seeks a court order to require the release of funds if the Trump administration is unable to provide evidence that they have been unfrozen.

Joining Raoul in filing this motion are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.

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