A US judge has ruled in favor of local governments challenging the Department of Homeland Security's attempt to make election-related requirements a condition for receiving funds under the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Homeland Security Grant Program. The ruling was issued in a case brought by local governments, including Nashville, Tennessee; Harris County, Texas; and Columbus, Ohio, against the US Department of Homeland Security.
The Homeland Security Grant Program provides federal funding to state and local governments for preventing, protecting against, and responding to terrorism and other security threats. However, the Department of Homeland Security attempted to attach five election-related conditions to fiscal year 2026 funding under the program. These conditions included requirements related to voting equipment, post-election audits, and voter-roll citizenship checks.
The local governments argued that Congress had not conditioned the receipt of counterterrorism grants on how localities administer elections. They claimed that the Department of Homeland Security lacked authority to impose the conditions through the counterterrorism grant program. The complaint stated that Congress authorized FEMA to help jurisdictions protect critical infrastructure from terrorist and cyberattacks, but not to decide who may vote or how ballots must be counted.
The dispute arose after FEMA announced that it would withhold 20 percent of Homeland Security Grant Program funding unless recipients complied with the five election-related requirements. The requirements included a transition from voting machines that accept QR and bar codes to equipment that uses paper ballots, manual ballot audits, and the use of the SAVE system for voter-registration checks.
The lawsuit, Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee, et al. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, et al., was filed on August 17 and is being heard by Judge Amir H. Ali in the US District Court for the District of Columbia. The local governments were represented by Public Rights Project, which is involved in the litigation.
The judge's ruling prevents the administration from conditioning the counterterrorism funding on the challenged election-administration changes while the litigation proceeds. The case is one of several legal disputes over the Trump administration's efforts to impose election-related requirements through federal programs. The Brennan Center for Justice stated that the lawsuit alleges that the conditions violate the separation of powers, federalism, and the Constitution's Spending Clause, as well as the Administrative Procedure Act.
The ruling is a significant development in the ongoing debate over the role of the federal government in election administration. The case highlights the tension between the federal government's authority to impose conditions on grant funding and the rights of local governments to administer elections.
Key points
- A US judge has blocked the Trump administration from conditioning counterterrorism funds for local governments on changes to election administration.
- The ruling was issued in a case brought by local governments challenging the Department of Homeland Security's attempt to make election-related requirements a condition for receiving funds under the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Homeland Security Grant Program.
- The judge's ruling prevents the administration from conditioning the counterterrorism funding on the challenged election-administration changes while the litigation proceeds.
