As a candidate, Trump spread misinformation about the Hurricane Helene recovery efforts in Western North Carolina. Things took a dark turn, and Joe Biden's efforts were hampered. Now, in 2025, the Trump administration sought to reallocate $4 billion in FEMA funding intended to help communities protect themselves against natural disasters.
A lawsuit was brought by 20 states in July, noting that Congress had allocated money for the program and that any attempt to redirect it would run afoul of the Constitution.
CBS News reports:
A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked the Trump administration's efforts to reallocate more than $4 billion in federal funding geared toward natural disaster mitigation projects, arguing the transfer could lead to "irreparable harm" to flood-prone areas.
The injunction by U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns in Boston followed a July lawsuit brought by 20 states. They argued that FEMA's Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program had been unlawfully terminated in April 2025 under the Trump administration, with more than $4 billion in unspent funding that had been allocated by Congress redirected without its authority. Stearns wrote that the court was "not convinced" that Congress had intended for the money to be reallocated.
"The BRIC program is designed to protect against natural disasters and save lives," Stearns wrote.
Stearns ruled that government officials were temporarily blocked from repurposing the funds while the court considers the state's objections to the cuts.
How unsurprising:
A CBS News investigation in June revealed that the recent BRIC funding cuts have disproportionately affected counties that supported Mr. Trump in the 2024 election, with two-thirds of the counties that lost funding having voted for the president. The elimination of the BRIC program will especially deprive vulnerable communities across the Southeast — an area prone to natural disasters — the CBS News data analysis found.
You won't see Biden flying into the area to spread misinformation, saying, "I would have corrected this on day one. Me, your favorite president. The best president in history!" Even though he, not Trump, led the best administration of my lifetime. The Trump administration is feeding the leopards with the faces of its supporters. This administration is not keeping us safe.
And yet, ICE is receiving over $100 billion in funding. And the new FEMA is planning to give out more than $608 million in grants to states and local jurisdictions to build more immigration detention facilities, as the Trump administration seeks to expand U.S. detention capacity and quickly deport millions of people, The Independent reported.
