Over 24 States Challenge Trump Administration's Federal Funding Conditions
24+ states challenge Trump administration's conditions on federal disaster and DHS funding.
Event / Politics
States Challenge Federal Disaster Funding Conditions
Multi-state lawsuit filed against Trump administration for conditioning federal disaster funding on election system changes and immigration enforcement cooperation. States argue conditions violate constitutional spending clause and Administrative Procedure Act.
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2026-08-15 to 2026-11-12 · UTC publication dates
Coverage begins 24 Jul, 01:59 UTC
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What happened
Previous court rulings found Trump administration funding conditions unlawful
Courts have repeatedly found the Trump administration's strategy of placing conditions on federal funding to be unlawful and unconstitutional. A ruling last year barred the administration from putting conditions on other FEMA funding. A second ruling this year blocked the administration from redirecting DHS funding away from states not seen as supportive of its agenda. A U.S. District Judge previously barred Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy from cutting off transportation funds to states not complying with immigration enforcement actions.
More than 24 states sue Trump administration over federal funding conditions
More than two dozen states filed a lawsuit in Rhode Island challenging Federal Emergency Management Agency and Department of Homeland Security policies. The states argue the Trump administration is requiring them to comply with election and immigration conditions in order to receive billions of dollars in federal funding for disasters. The lawsuit contends these conditions violate the Administrative Procedure Act and the U.S. Constitution's spending clause.
Trump administration requires paper ballots and citizenship verification for disaster funding
The Trump administration is requiring states to transition to paper-ballot voting systems, conduct manual audits of voting systems, reconcile voter records, and verify the citizenship of every registered voter in state voter databases as conditions for receiving federal disaster funding. States that fail to comply risk losing at least 20% of their Homeland Security Grant Program funding, which is used to protect citizens from cyberattacks and terrorism.
Trump administration conditions DHS funding on immigration enforcement cooperation
The Trump administration is requiring states to help the Department of Homeland Security with immigration enforcement as a condition of receiving federal disaster funding. The conditions would also allow DHS to terminate grants at any time and for any reason, according to the lawsuit filed by the states.
Illinois joins multi-state lawsuit against Trump administration funding conditions
Illinois is among the states joining the lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's conditional requirements for federal disaster funding.
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