NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today co-led a coalition of 22 other attorneys general in filing a second motion for enforcement in their ongoing lawsuit against the Trump administration’s illegal and destructive freeze on 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 addressing wildfires, floods, cybersecurity threats, and more. 

“The Trump administration’s reckless and illegal freeze on federal funding jeopardizes critical resources that help keep communities throughout New York and the nation safe,” said Attorney General James. “This dangerous policy put law enforcement, health care, and education funding at risk, and it continues to impact programs that protect our communities and help the most vulnerable. I will use every tool at my disposal to stop this chaos and confusion and ensure New Yorkers – and all Americans – get the resources they need.”

Attorney General James and the coalition sued the administration over the freeze on January 28, and on January 31, the court granted the attorneys general’s request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) blocking the freeze’s implementation until further order from the court. On February 7, Attorney General James 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 8, 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, Attorney General James and the coalition have found that the administration continues to withhold essential funding, and that states, grantees, and 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. In New York, tens of millions of dollars in federal grants to the state’s Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES) to support disaster preparedness and recovery programs have been frozen.

Attorney General James 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 Attorney General James and the attorneys general of California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Rhode Island. Joining the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.