Key facts
- 25 states and the District of Columbia are suing the Trump administration.
- The lawsuit challenges conditions on federal disaster funding related to election administration and immigration.
- Conditions include adopting hand-marked paper ballots, auditing at least 5% of ballots, and verifying voter citizenship.
- Plaintiffs argue these conditions exceed federal authority and violate the U.S. Constitution.
- Failure to comply could result in withholding at least 20% of Federal Emergency Management Agency grant awards.
A coalition of 25 states and the District of Columbia has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, challenging conditions imposed on federal disaster-related funds. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is seeking to withhold 20% of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant awards until states adopt election administration practices favored by the administration, such as using hand-marked paper ballots and conducting manual audits of at least 5% of votes.
The states argue that these conditions exceed the federal government's authority, as election administration is constitutionally assigned to the states. The lawsuit contends that attaching these requirements to congressionally appropriated funds violates the Administrative Procedure Act and the U.S. Constitution's spending clause. The grant programs in question, totaling over $740 million for fiscal year 2026, were not originally designed with election security as a primary focus.
The administration has stated these changes are common-sense steps to protect U.S. elections and that states are not doing enough to prevent voter fraud and voting by non-U.S. citizens. This move follows President Trump's unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election. New Jersey recently reported that over 6,000 non-U.S. citizens were accidentally registered to vote, with nearly 400 casting ballots, prompting demands for data from the Justice Department.