US Court Stops Trump Plan to Cut Counterterrorism Funds Over Election Reforms
A federal court has halted the Trump administration's attempt to deny part of counterterrorism funding to states that decline to implement election reforms backed by the White House.
Earlier this year, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which manages the grants, announced that states and localities would need to adopt five election policies — among them the use of a disputed database to verify voters' citizenship — or lose 20 percent of the funds.
On Monday, Judge Amir Ali, who was appointed by President Biden, concluded that withholding the money exceeds FEMA's legal authority.
"The statute gives FEMA the authority to fund projects proposed by states and high-risk urban areas; it does not give FEMA authority to use the possibility of grants to induce states or high-risk urban areas to carry out the federal government's preferred projects at their own expense," Ali wrote.
The affected programs are the Urban Area Security Initiative and the State Homeland Security Grant Program. The former is particularly aimed at helping cities respond to terrorist threats. Both were established after the September 11 attacks to help prevent such incidents.
The Hill contacted FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security, which supervises the agency, seeking comment.
Earlier this year, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin defended the policy as a way to protect election security and ensure public confidence in election outcomes.
"Under President Trump's leadership, we are taking decisive action to protect election systems from threats like foreign interference, insider threats, and cyberattacks. These new requirements for homeland security grant recipients will preserve election integrity and ensure that Americans can trust the results," Mullin said in July.
Opponents, however, view the policy as an indirect method of compelling states to check voters' citizenship, an objective Trump has also pursued through executive orders.
Specifically, the policy would have required states to use the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) to confirm citizenship.
The database, normally used to determine eligibility for programs such as food stamps and other benefits, has faced criticism for being outdated and containing inaccurate information.
Zach Schonfeld and Rebecca Beitsch contributed.
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