25 states sue FEMA and DHS, accusing Trump administration of withholding funding

Key Points:

• A coalition of 25 states and the District of Columbia is suing FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security, accusing the Trump administration of withholding disaster-preparedness and homeland security grants to pressure states into adopting federal policies on elections and immigration.
• The lawsuit challenges new funding conditions requiring states to verify voter citizenship through a federal database, use hand-marked paper ballots, conduct federally mandated election audits, and cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.
• The states argue that FEMA and DHS are unlawfully leveraging emergency management funds, which are meant for first responders and disaster response, to influence unrelated policy areas and that this undermines the reliability of multiyear federal awards.
• Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha criticized the administration for threatening public safety by withholding billions in critical funding, emphasizing that Congress, not the executive branch, controls emergency funding allocations.
• FEMA responded by defending the new conditions as necessary for election security and accused the suing states of partisan opposition, while the states seek a federal court order to block and void the imposed funding conditions nationwide.