Press Release  AG Coalition Files Second Motion To Enforce Court Order Preventing Trump Administration From Unlawfully Withholding Essential Federal Funding

BOSTON — A coalition of 23 attorneys general today filed a second motion for enforcement in their ongoing lawsuit against the Trump Administration’s illegal and destructive freeze of federal funding.

Although the AGs’ lawsuit has resulted in significant federal funding being unfrozen, the Administration has continued to block access to 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 wildfires, floods, cybersecurity threats, and more.

AG Campbell and the coalition sued the Administration over the freeze on January 28, and on January 31, the court granted the coalition’s request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) blocking the freeze’s implementation until further order from the court. On February 7, AG Campbell and the coalition filed motions for enforcement and a preliminary injunction to stop the illegal freeze until the case resolves and preserve federal funding that families, communities, and states rely on. On February 10, the court granted that first motion for enforcement, ordering the Administration to immediately comply with the TRO and stop freezing federal funds.

Despite the TRO, AG Campbell and the coalition have found that the Administration has continued to withhold some essential funding, and that states, grantees, and some programs are continuing 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 wildfire prevention response, cybersecurity, flood mitigation, and emergency management.

AG Campbell 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.

This lawsuit is led by AG Campbell and the attorneys general of California, Illinois, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island. Joining the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin, as well as the Office of the Kentucky Governor.

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