The Trump administration unlawfully eradicated a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant program designed to reduce the consequences of natural disasters, a federal judge has ruled.

The Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) pre-disaster mitigation program is the largest of its kind offered through FEMA, U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns notes in his 19-page order . Its funding is allocated by Congress, which has mandated that FEMA not significantly reduce its "core responsibilit[y]" of mitigation.

The case considers the separation of powers between the branches of government , and Stearns opines that it is only the executive branch that has crossed a line.

"In sum, this is not a case about judicial encroachment on the discretionary authority of the Executiv

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