After Western Maryland Flooding, AG Joins Lawsuit Challenging Federal Restrictions on Emergency Grant Funds

Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown has joined a coalition of 12 other states in filing a lawsuit against federal officials and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The lawsuit challenges new terms imposed on grants intended for emergency management, disaster relief, and homeland security operations, which the states argue unlawfully interfere with previously promised funding. These grants are crucial for supporting Maryland’s emergency response capabilities, including its efforts during the air disaster over the Potomac River and severe flash flooding in Western Maryland earlier this year.

The coalition contends that the Trump administration has sought to reduce FEMA’s role and shift more responsibility to the states. This approach has allegedly involved denying or restricting emergency declarations, withholding grant funds, and imposing new, restrictive conditions on existing FEMA grants. These new grant terms, specifically within the Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) and the Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP), are described as a departure from past practices and create significant obstacles to accessing and utilizing the allocated funds.

These federal grants provide substantial financial support for state emergency management systems, such as the Maryland Department of Emergency Management (MDEM). The funding has been instrumental in enabling MDEM’s response to critical events like the January 2025 air disaster and the May 2025 flash flooding in Western Maryland. Additionally, the grants are a vital source of federal funding for states to bolster homeland security measures and implement terrorism prevention strategies.

The federal government has reportedly placed an improper hold on one of the grants and altered the timelines for expending funds under both the EMPG and HSGP. The states argue that these new conditions are unlawful because they exceed the authority of the federal defendants, contradict existing laws, fail to adhere to required procedural processes, and lack proper explanation. By imposing these terms, the federal government is seen as inappropriately limiting the states’ ability to use the grant funding as originally intended, which includes supporting ongoing and future projects aligned with the grant programs’ objectives.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon. In addition to Maryland Attorney General Brown, the coalition includes the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Hawaiʻi, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, and Wisconsin, as well as the Governor of Kentucky.

Article by Mel Anara, based upon information from the Maryland Attorney General’s Office.

---