Blue states sue Trump administration over conditions on FEMA disaster relief
Several Democrat-led states have sued the Trump governance after it imposed conditions on Federal Emergency Management agency (FEMA) disaster funding, asserting that the new requirements-such as verifying voter rolls and complying with federal immigration laws-hurt their ability to access crucial funds. The lawsuit, filed in Rhode Island, claims the administration is using disaster relief funding as leverage to push its policy agenda, including threats to withhold billions of dollars and cancel grants for non-compliance. Officials like Rhode Island’s Attorney general and Pennsylvania’s Governor have condemned these actions as dangerous and politically motivated,risking public safety and undermining states’ rights. Courts have previously struck down similar tactics, ruling that withholding funds to enforce federal policies violates legal and constitutional protections. The legal challenge continues amid broader concerns over the administration’s strategies of using funding as a political tool.
Over two dozen Democrat-run states sued the Trump administration after it attached conditions to providing Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster funding.
The lawsuit, filed in Rhode Island, challenges the Trump administration’s new requirement that states must certify their voter rolls and abide by federal immigration law. The law being challenged also allowed the Department of Homeland Security to cancel grants for any reason.
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Over two dozen plaintiffs argued the administration was holding disaster relief hostage to force through its agenda.
“Once again, the Trump Administration is threatening to jeopardize public safety by unlawfully withholding billions in critical funding and once again, they won’t get away with it,” Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said. “This Administration is using the safety of Americans as collateral by attempting to bully the states into relinquishing their constitutional right to enact policies and laws that best serve their residents.”
Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) claimed the Trump administration was holding critical disaster relief and security funding “hostage in their latest attempt to take over our elections and perpetuate baseless conspiracy theories.”
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The lawsuit is the latest of many that have challenged the Trump administration’s strategy of withholding funds until states follow its guidance. The creative move has mostly failed to hold under legal scrutiny, and a similar effort to withhold other FEMA funding under conditions was struck down by courts last year.
“The States face losing billions of dollars in federal funding, are being put in a position of relinquishing their sovereign right to decide how to use their own police officers, are at risk of losing the trust built between local law enforcement and immigrant communities, and will have to scale back, reconsider, or cancel ongoing transportation projects,” U.S. District Judge John McConnell Jr. wrote last year in response to an effort from the Department of Transportation to withhold funding from states that didn’t abide by immigration law.
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