Overview
- The lawsuit was filed in Rhode Island by 24 state attorneys general and the District of Columbia, led by Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha, on Thursday, July 23.
- Plaintiffs say FEMA and DHS have tied 2026 disaster and homeland-security grants to requirements that would change state election procedures, share voter registration lists with DHS and use a federal system to check voter or worker citizenship.
- The states argue the rules violate the Administrative Procedure Act and the Constitution's spending clause because agencies lack authority to attach those conditions to money Congress appropriated.
- A FEMA spokesman called the filing a partisan response and defended the measures as election-security steps, while state leaders warn threatened cuts, including a possible 20% loss to some Homeland Security grant funds, would harm emergency response and public-safety programs.
- Courts have blocked similar conditions before and the new case asks a judge to stop the agencies from applying comparable mandates to 2026 funding as litigation over the rules continues.