El attorney general of north carolinaJeff Jackson joined a lawsuit filed by several states against the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on November 4.
The legal action, filed in a federal court in Oregon, accuses both agencies of withholding promised funds intended for emergency management operations, disaster relief, and national security programs.
According to the lawsuit, FEMA allocated $8,5 million in Emergency Management Performance grants to North Carolina and another $21 million through the Homeland Security Grant Program in September.
However, the document accuses the Trump administration of imposing new “illegal” restrictions after the award, without congressional approval, which would have resulted in the withholding of funds already granted to the states.
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Crucial financing
On press release from JacksonNorth Carolina Emergency Management Agency Director Will Ray said that both grants are crucial sources of funding for state and local emergency management agencies across the state.
“The delay of these funds will have significant negative repercussions for public safety in our state,” Ray explained.
Grants, preparedness and response
Federal grants aim to strengthen the preparation and emergency response. The Emergency Management Performance program provides resources to state and local agencies to implement the National Preparedness System, while the Homeland Security Grant Program supports efforts to prevent, respond to, and recover from acts of terrorism and other threats.
According to Jackson, North Carolina used Emergency Management Grant funds to prepare for and respond to Hurricane Helene.
“Our emergency management and first response teams worked tirelessly in the weeks following the Hurricane Helene"And these funds were crucial to their work," Jackson said in the press release.
Coordination of rescue operations and shelters
The funds not only helped deploy trained emergency management personnel before and during the storm, but also helped coordinate rescue operations and shelters and maintain operations during power and communications outages.
“We are in the midst of Hurricane season"And without these funds, we will have fewer resources to help the population during the next storm that hits North Carolina," he continued.
Arguments of the federal government
This year, as part of the changes to the restrictions, the federal government withheld one of the grants on the grounds that the state should provide FEMA with a population certification as of September 30, 2025.
This report includes an explanation of the methodology used to determine it and a guarantee that the figure does not include people expelled from the state under immigration laws.
The lawsuit claims that states do not maintain population censuses with that level of detail or updating, as they rely on data from the U.S. Census Bureau and lack the information to determine the exact number of recently deported people.
It also mentions that l Withholding population certification is illegal.
Deadline for spending funds
The second change is the drastic reduction in the timeframe for spending the funds from both grants, which would have been done without the approval of Congress and without giving any explanation.
This shorter timeframe means that North Carolina will not be able to use all of the funds for state and local emergency management programs and public safety initiatives in the most effective way.
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What is the demand seeking?
La demand It seeks to overturn the withholding of population certification and the change in the performance period, allowing the petitioning states to receive and use the funds from both grants as intended by Congress.
This is not North Carolina's first lawsuit against FEMA
The lawsuit filed this month against FEMA would not be the first that the state has filed.
In July, Attorney General Jeff Jackson, along with 19 other states, filed a lawsuit against FEMA for canceling the BRIC program, which allocates more than $200 million to infrastructure protection in North Carolina.
In the lawsuit, Jackson requested a preliminary injunction to prevent the funds from being diverted to other purposes and a permanent order to reinstate the program and the committed resources.
A month later, in August, a federal judge issued an injunction preventing the government from redirecting BRIC funds, a ruling considered a significant development in the case.
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