Judge Blocks Trump From Tying Counterterrorism Funds to Election Changes
U.S. District Judge Amir Ali in Washington, D.C., on Monday blocked the Trump administration from withholding counterterrorism grant funds from states and cities that did not comply with federal election administration requirements.
- 20% of Urban Area Security Initiative and State Homeland Security Grant Program funds were at stake.
- $1 billion-plus in FEMA grants covers terror prevention at crowded places, online, and at borders.
- 5 election conditions included auditing ballots, verifying voter citizenship, and phasing out QR-code voting systems.
- Plaintiffs include Columbus, Nashville, El Paso, Harris, Dallas, and Travis counties.
Why it matters: Ali wrote that election administration conditions — covering ballot formats, auditing rules, and voter eligibility — fall outside the legal purpose of counterterrorism grants.
- He ruled federal agencies lacked congressional authority to attach such conditions to the grants.
- Ali fully vacated both the election conditions and the 20% funding holdback.
How 8 sources split on this story
Where they split: The dispute centers on whether the administration used grant conditions to shape state election policy beyond what Congress authorized.
Center coverage, 2 sources: The center frames the ruling as courts again rejecting administration efforts to attach election mandates to unrelated federal funds, noting those efforts rest on claims about widespread voting fraud that courts have found unsupported.
Right coverage, 3 sources: The right frames the ruling as a judicial check on what the administration described as common-sense election security measures tied to federal grant eligibility.
What’s next: 25 state attorneys general or governors have filed a similar lawsuit, still pending.
- FEMA expects to award 56 grants under the affected program.
- Whether the administration will appeal Ali's order or revise the grant conditions.
- How the separate multistate lawsuit will proceed given Monday's ruling.