New Jersey has joined 19 other states that are suing the federal government over the Trump administration’s decision to terminate a grant program that helps states and local governments prepare for natural disasters.

The Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program, run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, provides funding for a wide range of projects that help communities across the nation deal with natural disasters.

Calling the federal action illegal and “incredibly irresponsible and callous,” New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said that natural disaster relief and aid to communities for prevention of disasters have never been controversial issues.

Federal officials announced the end of the program on April 4, labeling it wasteful and politicized in a press release.

The litigation argues that the head of FEMA who ended the program, Cameron Hamilton, was not lawfully appointed and has no power to cancel it. It also argues that the administration is unlawfully intruding on the power of the purse, which belongs to Congress.

The grant program was approved by Congress during President Trump’s first term, in 2018. Since then, the lawsuit says, it has provided about $4.5 billion in disaster resilience funding.

Projects have ranged from flood mitigation efforts in the Meadowlands to infrastructure improvements across the state to a Cape May County project that led to a new floodwall to protect Ocean City’s sewer treatment plant.

Of the 20 states that joined in the litigation 19 are headed by Democratic governors and one, Vermont, by a Republican governor.

The suit was filed July 16 in federal court in Massachusetts.

Contact the reporter, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.