The lawsuit notes that the Trump administration allegedly included “illegal and impossible-to-meet grant terms” for certain programs, departing from past practice and serving “only as obstacles in obtaining and using the funding as previously promised.”
A coalition of a dozen state attorneys general have filed a lawsuit accusing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security of interfering with grants already appropriated for emergency management, disaster relief, and other critical operations.
In a statement, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said that Congress, and Congress alone, has the power to restrict and claw back already-awarded grants.
“The Trump Administration should be working with states to keep our residents safe,” Nessel said. “Instead, the White House continues again and again to pull the rug out from under us, putting the safety of our communities in jeopardy. Congress created FEMA to ensure the federal government would stand with the people it serves in times of crisis, not abandon them. Only Congress—not the president—has the authority to scale back that mission, and as promised, each and every time this administration acts unlawfully and harms the people of Michigan, I will take legal action on behalf of the people of our state.”
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a co-plaintiff in the lawsuit, said that Trump administration’s cancellations could put the state’s $83 million emergency preparedness fund at-risk.
“The Trump administration is trying to claw back money we use to protect the border, including for protective equipment and vehicles for law enforcement on the ground, and to support emergency preparedness and terrorism response preparation. They are also trying to withhold 50% of the funds we use to respond to emergencies in Arizona,” Mayes said. “This is the 30th lawsuit my office has filed and it’s a prime example of why I am stepping in– to stop the harm to our law enforcement and frontline responders, while protecting funding for Arizona to secure the border and respond to threats.”
The lawsuit notes that the Trump administration allegedly included “illegal and impossible-to-meet grant terms” for certain programs, departing from past practice and serving “only as obstacles in obtaining and using the funding as previously promised.”
Michigan claims that, much like Arizona, federal funds constitute a significant portion of the state’s emergency management apparatus.
“These grants fund a substantial portion of the State’s emergency management apparatus, including the Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division within the Michigan State Police,” Nessel’s office wrote in a press release. “They also provide federal funding to states to assist with homeland security and terrorism prevention, like active shooter trainings for law enforcement and school personnel in Michigan, as well as local police support for the Secret Service and operational overtime for state Troopers.”
Sources
Attorney General Nessel Leads Lawsuit Challenging Illegal Terms to FEMA Grants
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