“FEMA is threatening our counterterrorism funding again,” Jackson said. “The last time they tried this, we took them to court and won. Now they’re trying again, and I expect we’ll beat them again.”
More than two-dozen state attorneys general have joined forces to stop the Trump administration from withholding billions in federal funds from states that don’t adhere to the president’s political agenda.
“Critical funding for emergencies and counterterrorism efforts is not a bargaining chip, and Virginia will not be threatened or bullied into sharing sensitive voter data with the federal government,” Jones said in a press release, referencing the administration’s repeated efforts to obtain state-level voter-registration lists. “Donald Trump knows that the People will hold him accountable at the ballot box less than four months from now, so he is doing everything in his power to undermine voters before they get to the ballot box. With these funding conditions, he’s prioritizing his partisan agenda over the health and safety of those he serves. We will not let this stand.”
The attorneys general say that the Department of Homeland Security, as well as FEMA, established grant conditions in 2026 that restrict funds from states that don’t readily collaborate with federal immigration enforcement.
The approximately $1 billion in funds at issue are used to help states purchase equipment for bomb squads, conduct active-shooter drills, implement cybersecurity features, and respond to natural disasters like tornadoes and hurricanes.
In a statement, North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson emphasized that the conditions imposed on many of these funds have little, if anything, to do with their intended purposes.
“FEMA is threatening our counterterrorism funding again,” Jackson said. “The last time they tried this, we took them to court and won. Now they’re trying again, and I expect we’ll beat them again.”
Jackson said conditions on some funds would allow the Department of Homeland Security to terminate grants for almost any reason—something his office says poses a major risk to public safety operations that rely on federal grants.
“A second condition,” Jackson’s office said, “would withhold the money unless states change how they administer elections. FEMA does not run elections and has no authority over them. Those demands would interfere with the authority of the North Carolina State Board of Elections and county boards. They would also force at least 13 North Carolina counties, most of them rural, to spend millions of dollars replacing voting equipment the State Board already certified after mandatory testing by nationally accredited laboratories.”
Jones and Jackson are joined in the lawsuit by the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin, as well as the governors of both Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
Sources
Attorney General Jeff Jackson Sues FEMA Over Threat to North Carolina’s Counterterrorism Funding
North Carolina attorney general sues FEMA, DHS for withholding counterterrorism funding
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