25 states sue over FEMA grants tied to election rule changes
Why it matters: The policy could withhold at least $148 million this year and affect more than $1 billion in disaster-security grants.
A coalition of 25 states and the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration in federal court in Rhode Island, seeking to block new Homeland Security conditions on FEMA-related grants that would force changes to state election systems. The states say DHS and FEMA cannot withhold funds unless states adopt hand-marked paper ballots, conduct manual audits of at least 5% of ballots, reconcile voter participation records and compare voter rolls against a DHS citizenship database. The lawsuit argues the requirements exceed federal authority and violate the Constitution and administrative law. The challenged policy applies to more than $1 billion in grants, and the states said at least $148 million of their 2026 funding would be held back.