23 Democratic states sue Trump over FEMA grant conditions

A coalition of 23 Democratic-led states, along with Washington, D.C., and the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania, filed a federal lawsuit on July 23, 2026, challenging the Trump administration's new conditions for receiving critical Federal Emergency Management Agency grant funds. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island, alleges the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA are unlawfully requiring states to verify voter citizenship and cooperate with federal immigration enforcement to access billions of dollars for counterterrorism and emergency preparedness.

The states argue the administration is holding public safety funding hostage to advance unrelated political priorities. The contested conditions, adopted in June 2026, apply to FEMA's Homeland Security Grant Program, which funds first responders, cybersecurity, and disaster planning. The new rules mandate states use the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database to check voter rolls for non-citizens, transition to paper-ballot voting systems, and conduct manual audits. States also must cooperate with immigration enforcement agencies. Non-compliance could result in the...