More than 24 states sue Trump administration over disaster funding conditions

A coalition of 25 states and the District of Columbia is suing the Trump administration for conditioning over $1 billion in disaster relief funds on changes to state election and immigration policies. The lawsuit, filed in Rhode Island, argues the Department of Homeland Security is unconstitutionally withholding 20% of critical grants to compel states to adopt practices like using paper ballots, stemming from the administration's unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud.

DHS disaster funding conditions

• ▪The new conditions require states to change their election systems and help the Department of Homeland Security with immigration enforcement.
• ▪The Department of Homeland Security announced on July 10, 2026, it would withhold 20% of certain Federal Emergency Management Agency grant awards.
• ▪The funding restrictions apply to over $1 billion in grant money intended to help states prepare for terrorist attacks and other threats.
• ▪The states were allocated over $740 million in fiscal year 2026, meaning at least $148 million would be withheld under the policy.

Multi-state lawsuit against DHS

• ▪The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Rhode Island, asks a judge to block the Department of Homeland Security from withholding disaster-related funds.
• ▪A coalition of 25 states and the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration on July 23, 2026.
• ▪The lawsuit was led by the states of Rhode Island, California, Illinois, and New Jersey.

Constitutional authority over elections

• ▪The lawsuit contends the conditions violate the Administrative Procedure Act and the U.S. Constitution’s spending clause.
• ▪Courts have previously ruled that the Trump administration's strategy of conditioning federal funds is unlawful and unconstitutional.
• ▪The states argue the administration's plan exceeds federal authority, as the U.S. Constitution assigns states the role of administering federal elections.

Election administration requirements

• ▪As a condition for funding, states must use hand-marked paper ballots instead of electronic systems that use bar codes or QR codes.
• ▪States are also required to manually audit at least 5% of ballots cast and compare voter rolls to a Department of Homeland Security database.

Trump voter fraud claims

• ▪Independent studies and audits have found voter fraud to be rare in U.S. elections.
• ▪President Donald Trump and his allies have made false claims of widespread voter fraud in U.S. elections, including the 2020 presidential election.

New Jersey voter registration incident

• ▪The incident in New Jersey prompted the U.S. Justice Department to demand data on the voters involved.
• ▪New Jersey's governor reported that over 6,000 non-U.S. citizens were accidentally registered to vote in the state, with nearly 400 casting ballots.

2 sources