More than two dozen states took legal action Thursday against the Trump administration, filing a lawsuit that challenges requirements tying federal disaster relief funding to compliance with election system changes and immigration enforcement measures.
The suit was filed in Rhode Island and takes aim at policies established by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security. According to the states, the administration is demanding they overhaul their election systems and assist DHS with immigration enforcement as a condition of receiving billions in federal dollars. The challenged conditions would also give DHS the authority to cancel grants at any time and for any reason.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha was sharply critical of the move. “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,” he 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.”
The states contend that placing conditions on funding that was already approved by Congress violates both the Administrative Procedure Act and the spending clause of the U.S. Constitution. A DHS spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
This lawsuit is among many that have been brought against the Trump administration over its pattern of pressuring states — most of them led by Democrats — to fall in line with its policy goals in exchange for federal money. The tactic has been applied to a wide range of funding streams, including education, domestic violence programs, and highway dollars.
Courts have repeatedly struck down this approach as unlawful and unconstitutional. A ruling issued last year blocked the administration from attaching conditions to separate FEMA funding, and another decision earlier this year prevented DHS from redirecting funds away from states it viewed as uncooperative with its agenda.
U.S. District Judge John McConnell Jr., in his ruling last year that stopped the Transportation Secretary from cutting off highway funds to non-compliant states, described the stakes clearly: “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.”
Thursday’s lawsuit contends the administration is now attempting to impose similar conditions on 2026 funding after failing to do so with last year’s allocations.
Among the specific demands being challenged is a requirement that states switch to paper-ballot voting systems, conduct manual audits of their voting equipment, reconcile voter rolls, and verify the citizenship status of every registered voter. States that do not comply could lose at least 20% of their Homeland Security Grant Program funding — money that is used to defend against cyberattacks and terrorism.
Since losing the 2020 presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden, Trump has repeatedly and without evidence claimed that mail-in voting is plagued by fraud and has launched a federal investigation into that election. Multiple audits and investigations — including those conducted by Republicans — found no evidence of widespread fraud. Trump has also stated his desire to “take over” election administration in Democratic-leaning areas.
