Key facts
- More than 24 states are suing the Trump administration.
- The lawsuit challenges conditions attached to federal disaster funding.
- States must comply with election and immigration enforcement requirements to receive grants.
- Plaintiffs argue the conditions violate the Administrative Procedure Act and the U.S. Constitution.
- Failure to comply could result in the loss of at least 20% of Homeland Security Grant Program funding.
- Previous court rulings have found similar administration tactics unlawful.
More than two dozen states have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, challenging its policy of imposing conditions related to election integrity and immigration enforcement in exchange for billions of dollars in federal disaster funding. The legal action, initiated in Rhode Island, targets Federal Emergency Management Agency and Department of Homeland Security policies that plaintiffs argue unlawfully leverage critical safety grants to coerce states into adopting administration priorities.
Attorneys general contend that the administration is using public safety as leverage, attempting to force states to abandon their constitutional rights to set their own policies. The lawsuit asserts that attaching such conditions to congressionally appropriated funds violates both the Administrative Procedure Act and the U.S. Constitution's spending clause. This strategy has been previously employed by the administration for various grants, including those for education and transportation.
Previous court decisions have already found similar tactics unlawful. A ruling last year prohibited the administration from conditioning other FEMA funding, and another this year blocked the redirection of DHS funds from states not aligned with its agenda. U.S. District Judge John McConnell Jr. previously noted that such actions could jeopardize public safety, force states to relinquish sovereign rights regarding law enforcement, erode trust between communities and police, and disrupt ongoing transportation projects.
The current lawsuit specifically targets conditions for 2026 funding, which include requirements for states to transition to paper-ballot systems, conduct manual audits of voting systems, reconcile voter rolls, and verify the citizenship of every registered voter. Non-compliance risks the loss of at least 20% of Homeland Security Grant Program funds, which are vital for protecting citizens from cyberattacks and terrorism. These demands echo President Trump's unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud in mail-in voting following his 2020 election loss.