ICYMI: CBS News: 25 states sue FEMA and DHS, accusing Trump administration of withholding funding

Trump has approved just 23% of disaster aid requests from Democratic-led states, compared to 89% for Republican-led states

Washington, DC – A coalition of states is suing Trump’s FEMA and DHS for using critical disaster aid as a political pawn. Going back to his first term, Trump has put petty political grudges over the safety of the American people, including by withholding federal relief to Washington state in 2020 because of his political rivalry with Governor Jay Inslee. Trump has approved more than three-fourths of the requests from states that voted for him in the 2024 election but less than half the requests from states that did not. 

CBS: 25 states sue FEMA and DHS, accusing Trump administration of withholding funding

A coalition of states is suing the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the 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. 

The complaint challenges new conditions imposed on the funding that would require states to verify voter citizenship through a federal database, move toward hand-marked paper ballots, conduct federally prescribed election audits and cooperate with federal immigration enforcement…

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha, who’s co-leading the case, accused the Trump administration of “threatening to jeopardize public safety by unlawfully withholding billions in critical funding.”

“Congress allocated these funds to the states for preparing for and responding to emergencies including counterterrorism and natural disasters, and the executive branch has no legal say in the matter,” Neronha said in a statement announcing the suit. “Federal emergency funding cannot and will not be held hostage from states.”