California is heading back to court against the Trump administration, this time over new strings attached to federal emergency preparedness funding that state officials say are being used to pressure states on immigration enforcement and election policy.
Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Thursday that California has joined 24 other Democratic-led states in a lawsuit challenging fresh conditions placed on U.S. Department of Homeland Security grants — funding that helps states prepare for and respond to disasters such as wildfires and earthquakes.
The suit, filed in federal court in Rhode Island, targets a set of new requirements tied largely to elections. Among them: a mandate that states use a federal system to verify voters’ citizenship, a requirement to rely on hand-marked paper ballots, and a directive to conduct post-election audits. The rules would also require states to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement efforts and would give federal agencies broad discretion to cut off funding if states fall out of line.
At stake is money from programs like the Homeland Security Grant Program, created by Congress after the Sept. 11 attacks to help states guard against terrorism and other major threats, including cyberattacks. California receives roughly $150 million a year through that program alone.
Bonta argued that the administration is treating public safety funding as leverage rather than a guaranteed resource already approved by Congress.
“Instead of ensuring these critical resources reach the communities that need them, Trump is attempting to use this funding as leverage to force states to adopt his preferred political agenda,” Bonta said during a press conference.
According to the lawsuit, states that don’t comply with the new election-related conditions risk losing at least 20% of their Homeland Security Grant Program funding — and potentially all of it.
The push comes as the Trump administration has intensified calls for stricter election procedures, including voter ID requirements, ahead of the November midterms, citing concerns about voter fraud. Democratic officials, however, argue these measures are less about security and more about limiting turnout among certain voter groups.
FEMA pushed back on the lawsuit in a statement, describing it as “partisan pushback” from Democratic officials who oppose what the agency called “common-sense measures designed to protect election security and safeguard the integrity of American democracy.” The agency added that “election security is national security” and that the new requirements are meant to “preserve election integrity.”
This isn’t the first time California and its allies have fought the administration over these grants. Twice last year, the administration attempted to withhold the same funding as part of its push to compel states to assist with immigration enforcement. Both times, courts sided with California and the coalition of states challenging the move.
In one of those rulings, U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy — a Trump appointee — wrote that conditioning essential funding on “what appear to be Defendants’ political whims is unconscionable and, at least here, unlawful.”
The latest filing marks the 79th lawsuit California has brought against the Trump administration since it returned to office.
Original source: CalMatters
