Twenty-six states accuse the Trump administration in a new lawsuit of illegally threatening to withhold billions in counterterrorism and emergency preparedness funds from states that don’t adopt sweeping election changes or cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security made policy changes in June that condition such aid on states’ compliance with President Donald Trump’s political goals.
But the Trump administration has tried this strategy twice already, and federal judges have blocked it both times as unconstitutional, said Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha, one of four attorneys general co-leading a lawsuit filed Thursday.
“We refer to this case, colloquially, as ‘FEMA 3.0,’ and it’s because it’s the third case that we have had to file in the federal district court here in Rhode Island to force the federal government to return to this state and to our fellow states monies for emergency preparedness,” Neronha said.
In the prior two cases last year, states secured permanent injunctions barring the feds from tying essential public safety grants to unrelated policy priorities, with one judge characterizing the Trump administration’s conduct as “economic dragooning.”
Neronha and other attorneys general co-leading the lawsuit — Jen Davenport of New Jersey, Rob Bonta of California, and Kwame Raoul of Illinois — laid out their concerns in a call with reporters Thursday afternoon.
Neither the president nor federal agencies have the power to unilaterally freeze or cancel funding appropriated by Congress, Raoul said. The president also cannot change the election process, he added.
“Congress holds the power of the purse, and state legislatures set state election laws,” he said. “No amount of bullying from the president will change these facts. Yet President Trump refuses to accept the reality of our democracy and instead insists on wasting state and federal resources when he frequently, consistently, and willfully violates the law and our Constitution.”
Davenport noted that the funds in question pay first responders, protect schools and houses of worship, and strengthen cybersecurity, among other things. In New Jersey, $55 million in annual federal aid is under threat, according to the lawsuit. Threatening such funding when war in the Middle East magnifies security threats is especially dangerous, Davenport said.
“This federal funding is not just numbers on a spreadsheet; it is the shield that keeps New Jerseyans and all Americans safe from disaster,” Davenport said. “FEMA always supported all states, until President Trump started trying again and again — and now again — to use Homeland Security and disaster-prevention funding as a political weapon to force states to comply with his unrelated political priorities.”
The lawsuit names as defendants FEMA, its administrator Robert J. Fenton, and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.
In a statement, FEMA said the new requirements will preserve election integrity and blasted the lawsuit as “partisan pushback from New Jersey, California, Illinois, and Rhode Island” and “nothing new.”
“We fully expected these left-wing politicians to oppose common-sense measures designed to protect election security and safeguard the integrity of American democracy,” the agency said in an unattributed statement from its communications team. “Election security is national security, and protecting our critical infrastructure remains a top priority for the Trump Administration. Concerns over voting processes, data security, and registration practices have made it clear that action is required.”
The changes the feds adopted in June would allow FEMA to terminate grants for any reason.
They also would empower the Department of Homeland Security to withhold 20% of a state’s counterterrorism funding if it does not enact the election changes Trump wants, which include transitioning to paper-ballot systems, manually auditing 5% of voting systems, and using the department’s “Systemic Alien Verification for Entitlements” system to verify the citizenship of poll workers and registered voters.
Critics say that system can wrongly flag citizens as non-citizens, and the changes are costly and unneeded.
Counterterrorism and emergency preparedness funding protects and helps Americans recover from wildfires, earthquakes, floods, terrorist threats, and other emergencies, Bonta said.
“Trump is attempting to use this funding as leverage to force states to adopt his preferred political agenda. That is unlawful. It’s unconstitutional. And today, we’re asking the court to stop it,” Bonta said. “Public safety should never become a bargaining chip. Emergency preparedness funding should be based on public need, not political agendas.”
Other states joining the lawsuit are: Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
