New Jersey challenges Trump administration rules tied to counterterrorism grants
Lawsuit says Trump administration is improperly tying emergency funding to immigration enforcement and election changes
New Jersey and 25 other states are suing the Trump administration over new conditions imposed on states in order to receive billions of dollars in federal counterterrorism and emergency-preparedness grants.
The lawsuit, filed by a coalition co-led by New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport, challenges requirements imposed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for 2026 funding.
The states argue that the administration is improperly using federal grants to pressure them into assisting the federal government with civil immigration enforcement and into changing how they administer elections. The lawsuit also challenges a condition that the states say would allow federal officials to terminate grants at any time and for any reason.
New Jersey receives more than $55 million annually through the federal Homeland Security Grant Program. State and local governments use the money to prepare for and respond to terrorism, cyberattacks, and other threats.
States that do not comply with the administration’s election requirements could lose at least 20% of their counterterrorism funding.
The requirements include adopting paper ballots, manually auditing 5% of voting systems, using an undisclosed federal method to reconcile voters and ballots, and checking every registered voter and election worker through the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements system.
The states contend that the citizenship database can incorrectly identify U.S. citizens as noncitizens and that election-related requirements have no connection to the counterterrorism funding authorized by Congress.
The administration also is seeking to require states to devote law enforcement resources to assisting federal immigration authorities, according to the lawsuit. A federal judge blocked similar conditions last year.
“FEMA cannot use counterterrorism and other essential federal funding as a weapon to coerce states into assisting with civil immigration enforcement or to change our election administration,” Davenport said.
The lawsuit alleges that the conditions violate federal administrative law and the Spending Clause of the U.S. Constitution. It is the latest in a series of legal challenges brought by New Jersey and other states over the administration’s attempts to attach policy requirements to federal grants.
Krystal Knapp is the founder, executive director, and publisher of The Jersey Vindicator and the founder of Planet Princeton. She has more than two decades of experience reporting in New Jersey, including 10 years at The Trenton Times, where she was the newsroom’s public records and computer-assisted reporting expert. Her work has been recognized by the New Jersey Press Association and the Center for Cooperative Media. You can reach her at Krystal AT jerseyvindicator.org.