Colorado and a coalition of other states are again asking a judge to require the Trump administration to unfreeze funding that the court had previously ordered to be unlocked, including tens of millions of dollars destined for Colorado.
The states made the request in a legal filing Friday in an ongoing lawsuit challenging the freeze of a vast swath of federal funding by new President Donald Trump’s administration. The filing states that the federal government has unlocked some money, but the states and federal officials have “reached an impasse as to millions of dollars in obligated FEMA awards, which are and have remained frozen dating to as early as February 7.” FEMA is the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
It’s been more than a month since a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to unfreeze funding, halting a federal memo that threw hundreds of millions of dollars into limbo in Colorado and briefly sent state officials into a chaotic tailspin.
The memo was withdrawn, though state officials have said that some federal money remains unavailable. Last month, NBC News reported that a senior FEMA official had ordered staff to continue freezing grant funding, despite court orders requiring the money to be distributed.
The latest filing requests that a judge order FEMA officials to demonstrate “compliance with the Court’s orders promptly.” Failing that, the states ask the judge to order the agency to “cease freezing obligated funds.”
In a Monday statement, Gov. Jared Polis’ office said nearly $45 million in public safety grant money destined for Colorado was still unavailable.
“Commonsense support to improve safety for Boys and Girls Clubs, places of worship, stopping school violence, and disaster assistance is illegally being cut off by the Trump administration,” Polis said in the statement. “This wrecking ball approach from the federal government puts communities throughout Colorado at risk.”
The frozen money includes millions in homeland security grants, which Polis’ office said are used to “assist state, local, tribal and territorial efforts in preventing, protecting against, mitigating, responding to, and recovering from acts of terrorism and other threats.”
Other frozen grant dollars include what remains from awards for urban areas to prevent and prepare for terrorist attacks, emergency management performance, cybersecurity, emergency operations centers, and targeted violence and terrorism prevention.
Another $35 million from a weatherization assistance program — awarded under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed by former President Joe Biden — remains frozen. That money was supposed to go to the Colorado Energy Office, which said last month that $570 million in federal funding bound for Colorado was still locked, despite a judge ordering its release.
Much of that money became available only last week, Polis spokeswoman Ally Sullivan said in an email. But the $35 million from the weatherization program — out of a $50 million total award to the state — remained unavailable.
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