Attorney General Ellison takes action to stop Trump from withholding critical disaster relief funding

AG Ellison joins coalition of 22 attorneys general seeking court order to stop freezing of FEMA funds

March 25, 2025 (SAINT PAUL) — Attorney General Ellison joined a coalition of 22 other attorneys general in seeking a court order to force the Trump administration to unfreeze essential funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Despite multiple court orders, including a preliminary injunction issued on March 6 blocking the Trump administration from unlawfully freezing federal funds, the administration continues to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars in grants to states from FEMA. This funding freeze threatens life-saving emergency preparedness and recovery programs addressing wildfires, floods, cybersecurity threats, and more. Attorney General Ellison and the coalition filed a motion to enforce the preliminary injunction, seeking a court order requiring the administration to immediately stop the freezing of FEMA funds.

“Donald Trump’s continued withholding of critical disaster relief funding is as cruel as it is unlawful,” said Attorney General Keith Ellison. “The Federal Emergency Management Agency exists to help the American people when the worst happens, from floods to wildfires to hurricanes and so much more. I will not sit back and let Trump play political games with disaster relief funding the American people are relying on, especially when he’s doing so in defiance of a court order. This is unacceptable, so my fellow attorneys general and I are taking action to compel Trump to obey the law and obey the courts.”

The administration’s funding freeze policy, issued through an array of actions including a January 27 memorandum from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), illegally withheld trillions of dollars in federal funds for states and other entities like nonprofit organizations and community health centers. In the days after the policy was first issued, states could not access Medicaid dollars. Most recently, withheld FEMA funds have jeopardized public safety, disaster response, and emergency preparedness throughout the country. As Attorney General Ellison and the coalition assert in the motion to enforce, further freezing of FEMA funds would end disaster relief efforts and support for more than 4,000 survivors of the 2023 Maui wildfires.

Attorney General Ellison and the coalition sued the administration over its freeze of trillions of dollars in federal funds 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 Ellison and the coalition filed motions for enforcement and a preliminary injunction to stop the illegal funding freeze. On February 28, Attorney General Ellison and the coalition filed a second motion for enforcement seeking to stop the Trump administration from freezing hundreds of millions of dollars in grants to the states from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). On March 6, Attorney General Ellison and the coalition won a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from unlawfully freezing federal funds to the states. As part of the preliminary injunction, the court required the administration to provide evidence of having unfrozen FEMA funds by March 14. These funds continue to be withheld.

This effort is led by the attorneys general of California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island. Joining the coalition in addition to Attorney General Ellison are the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.