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Jul 23, 2026

California sues to stop Trump from using public safety funding to pressure states on elections

What you need to know: California is leading a multistate lawsuit to stop the federal government from using important security funding as political leverage over state election administration. This funding helps communities train first responders, strengthen cybersecurity, improve communications systems, and prepare for terrorism and other serious public safety threats.

SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today announced, in partnership with Attorney General Rob Bonta, that California is leading a multistate lawsuit to block unlawful federal attempts to condition public safety funding on political demands tied to elections. California will not accept the use of federal dollars meant to keep people safe as leverage to pressure states on how they run free and fair elections.

Time after time, courts have told Trump's corrupt administration that it can't coerce California into doing its bidding by threatening to withhold public safety funding. Yet, they're coming back for more. This time they're demanding states rewrite their own election laws to access money that pays for public safety readiness and response, and that Congress already approved. We simply won't allow it.

Governor Gavin Newsom

"President Trump has little support for both his mass deportation agenda and his baseless claims of election fraud, so instead, he's trying to bully state and local governments into adopting his preferred policies in exchange for much-needed funding," said Attorney General Bonta. "The Administration has already lost similar fights in court, and we expect this latest unlawful attempt to fail as well. Our communities deserve better than to have essential resources caught up in political games."

About the grants

The funding that is at stake is an annual $150 million in congressionally approved public safety funds, administered by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help states and their cities prevent, mitigate, respond to, and recover from acts of terrorism and other catastrophic security incidents.

Most people do not know this funding by its formal name — the Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) — but they know what it pays for. California is suing to safeguard the funding that supports state-level efforts to help train first responders, strengthen cybersecurity, improve emergency communications, buy critical equipment, and help public agencies prepare for serious threats.

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Money meant to keep people safe should not be turned into a political weapon.

The three politically motivated demands by the Trump Administration

• Election mandates: States would have to adopt Donald Trump's preferred election policies as a condition of receiving HSGP funds, including verifying voter citizenship through an error-prone federal system, transitioning to hand-marked paper ballots, and conducting ballot reconciliation using an undefined federal methodology. States that do not comply could lose 20% of their HSGP awards.
• Immigration enforcement mandates: States would be forced to expend state and local budgets, including personnel and other resources, to assist with federal civil immigration enforcement. Courts have previously blocked these same conditions.
• Disaster funding killswitch: Giving FEMA broad authority to cut off funding at any time based on vague and subjective "agency priorities," creating uncertainty over emergency management resources Congress approved to support states and local communities.

About the lawsuit

The coalition of states suing argues that the Trump administration's requirements are unlawful because Congress never gave DHS or FEMA authority to impose sweeping conditions on these federal grants, the agencies failed to follow required decision-making procedures, and the requirements violate the Spending Clause by coercing States through vague and ambiguous funding conditions that are entirely unrelated to the purposes of the funding programs.

This lawsuit is part of a broader effort to push back on attempts to interfere with California's election administration. In May, Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill 73 to strengthen California's election protections, including tighter safeguards around ballots, voting technology, and interference by law enforcement in the election process. Those actions followed earlier commitments by Governor Newsom and legislative leaders to protect California elections from federal overreach.

Prior California success

California has also beaten back similar unlawful conditions before. In 2025, Attorney General Bonta sued over immigration-related conditions attached to federal homeland security and transportation grants, arguing those terms were unrelated to the purpose of the funding and exceeded federal authority. A federal court later permanently blocked the DHS conditions.

Separately, in May 2026, the state announced the successful resolution of another multistate lawsuit over last-minute HSGP cuts after the Trump Administration dropped its appeal of the final order permanently resolving the homeland security grant case in California's favor.

This case follows the same principle. Federal money approved to help communities protect against terrorism and other threats cannot be turned into leverage for a political agenda. California is not backing down on public safety, the rule of law, or democracy.

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