Cities and Counties Sue to Force Release of $350 Million in FEMA/DHS Emergency Grants
The coalition alleges the administration tied funding to ending DEI programs alongside heightened immigration cooperation, violating Congress’s spending power.
Overview
- A new lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California seeks to compel DHS to disburse $350 million in congressionally approved emergency-preparedness funds.
- Roughly 29 jurisdictions from California, Arizona, and Washington joined the case, including Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Oakland, King County, and Tucson.
- Plaintiffs argue DHS exceeded its authority and ran afoul of the Spending Clause by imposing unrelated conditions on disaster preparedness, fire safety, and transit security grants.
- The complaint cites steep reductions in the Homeland Security Grant Program, saying FEMA awarded $226 million, a 51% drop, with large cuts to New York and Illinois and a shortened spending window in Washington.
- Local officials warn withheld grants jeopardize projects such as terrorism prevention on San Francisco transit, flood protections in Marin County, and Santa Clara County disaster mitigation, while a separate coalition of state attorneys general filed a parallel suit.