As reported by CBS News, a coalition of 25 states and the District of Columbia is suing the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, accusing the Trump administration of withholding hundreds of millions of dollars in disaster-preparedness and homeland security grants to force states to adopt its policies on elections and immigration. Plaintiffs estimate that FEMA could withhold at least 20% of Homeland Security Grant Program awards (approximately $148 million) from reaching them and terminate entire awards for continued noncompliance, moving forward.
The lawsuit also alleges DHS is using the funds as leverage over policies that the states argue are largely unrelated to those programs as part of a pressure campaign and challenges language that would permit FEMA to cancel grants that no longer align with the Trump administration’s changing priorities or view of the “national interest.”
For more details from CBS News, click here.