Opinion: AG Jeff Jackson visits Fayetteville to remind FEMA a promise is a promise

In Fayetteville, NC Attorney General Jeff Jackson calls on FEMA to honor their promise to build a badly needed bridge. Jackson’s office has filed a lawsuit against the federal agency over FEMA’s cancellation of $200 million in funds.

Some lawsuits are complicated, with lots of legal twists and turns.

State Attorney General Jeff Jackson’s lawsuit against the Federal Emergency Management Agency does not strike me as one of those. Especially if we take the politics out.

It’s simple. He wants FEMA to keep its word.

The federal lawsuit on behalf of North Carolina communities seeks to reverse FEMA’s cancellation of $200 million in funds already approved for 60 projects statewide — including $15.4 million designated to replace four bridges over Blounts Creek in downtown Fayetteville. The bridges will help with flood control in a city that was hit hard by back-to-back storms — Matthew in 2016 and Florence in 2018.

NC Attorney General Jeff Jackson, left, and Fayetteville Mayor Mitch Colvin discuss a bridge replacement project in downtown Fayetteville, NC. Jackson’s office is suing the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which had committed to providing funding for the project and dozens of others across the state. The press conference was held Oct. 21, 2025. (USA Today via Reuters)

NC attorney general says Fayetteville ‘relied in good faith’ on FEMA funds

Jackson visited Fayetteville on the sunny afternoon of Tuesday Oct. 21 to hold a news conference and tour the East Russell Street bridge site along with Fayetteville Mayor Mitch Colvin and city officials.

Jackson noted that Fayetteville had already spent money on the bridge replacement project, anticipating FEMA funds, saying “millions of dollars in tax money” could get wasted, when the city “had relied in good faith on FEMA telling them that these projects were approved.”

Trump releases all $165M in frozen education funds, says NC Attorney General Jeff Jackson

Colvin said during the news conference the city had already spent $3 million.  In the background at the gathering were three of the bridges to be replaced, including one that carries a railroad track. A gaping hole — where one of the bridges had been removed after a fire —  showed the trickling creek below. A fourth bridge connected to the replacement project is located on Person Street.

Colvin welcomed the attorney general “coming to see about us here in Fayetteville.” He said he supported Jackson’s advocacy for state and city residents.

“We’re at the backdrop of a very important project in our city,” he said. “Our community has been ravaged with floods in the past with hurricanes Florence and Matthew,” he said. “We thank you for fighting for the citizens of Fayetteville.”

Bridge replacement to help city in big flood events

The 98-foot long Russell Street bridges are to be replaced with 120-foot versions, and the 53-foot Person Street bridge over the creek will be replaced with one that is 70 feet long. The project would “widen and improve 4,000 feet” of the creek, according to the city.

The project would bring aesthetic improvements, including a recreational trail.

But the end goal is safety. By the numbers, the bridgework would spare an additional 77 structures from flooding in a 10-year event; 130 structures in a 25-year event; and 144 in a 50-year event, according to the projections.

If we can imagine a world without politics, I can’t imagine many Fayetteville residents disapproving of this use of our taxpayers’ money.

NC Attorney General Jeff Jackson, right, inspects a bridge replacement project in downtown Fayetteville, NC, along with Fayetteville Mayor Mitch Colvin and other officials. Jackson’s office is suing the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which had committed to providing funding for the project and dozens of others across the state. The press conference was held Oct. 21, 2025. (USA Today via Reuters)

NC AG: We have a strong argument in FEMA case

But in the real world, there’s the need for this lawsuit. Jackson likes his chances.

He said the state has already won a preliminary injunction on FEMA outright canceling the funds, “and made sure that FEMA couldn’t spend it any other way,” he said Tuesday. The next step is requested summary judgement.

In other words, he said: “We think we have such a strong argument that we could win it just on what the court already knows.”

To be clear: U.S. Congress does the budget

The funding for the replacement bridges for our city are part of FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities, which is to have funded $4.5 billion for more than 2,000 projects nationwide, according to reporting in NC Newsline. That is why 19 other states’ attornies’ general have joined Jackson in suing FEMA.

The fund were approved by Congress, which means they are not a suggestion but the law. Nevertheless, acting FEMA director Cameron Hamilton, appointed by President Donald Trump in April, terminated the Resilient Infrastructure program.

The lawsuit alleges he did not have the Constitutional authority to do so, as Congress had specified how FEMA was to spend the money.

And thus, the NC attorney general’s lawsuit.

Schoolhouse Rock reminder: It’s ‘just a bill’ till it becomes U.S. law

Which reminds me: I am of the generation that grew up with ABC’s Schoolhouse Rock — an educational series of short animated music videos (before MTV!) about how our country works and other school lessons like how adjectives and adverbs work. The shorts ran during the Saturday morning cartoon block.

They had one called “Just a Bill,” which explains how a bill becomes law.

I would like to see them bring back Schoolhouse Rock, and I am not joking even a little bit. I have seen enough on social media to learn that many Americans do not have a clue how a bill works or how any of the three branches of government work. Even FEMA under Trump appears shaky on the concept.

And wily politicians take advantage of that gap in knowledge.

Some things are complicated. Other things are not.  I believe FEMA knows this, too, despite fighting — for political reasons — against paying to our state and city the money the agency promised.

Reporting by Myron B. Pitts, Fayetteville Observer / The Fayetteville Observer