Attorney General Clark Files Lawsuit Challenging Unlawful Conditions on Federal Counterterrorism Funding

Attorney General Charity Clark today joined a coalition of 26 states to stop the Trump Administration's continued efforts to use federal funds-specifically, billions of dollars in federal counterterrorism and other funds-to coerce states into complying with the Administration's political and policy priorities.

The coalition's lawsuit filed today challenges decisions by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to impose unlawful conditions on billions of dollars in federal funds that Congress appropriated for states to use in preparing for and responding to natural disasters and emergencies, including acts of terrorism. The conditions challenged in the lawsuit would require the states to change the way they conduct elections, including by transmitting lists of all registered voters to DHS, and to assist DHS in enforcing federal immigration law. They would also permit DHS to terminate any federal grant at any time and for any reason.

"States should not lose funding for refusing to bend to political pressure and follow an agenda that ultimately hurts our communities," said Attorney General Clark. "This case is about ensuring that Vermonters receive every penny of the safety and security funding Congress intended for them."

Vermont joined two similar and successful lawsuits in 2025, each in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, challenging DHS's efforts to condition billions in federal emergency funding on states' agreement to enforce federal immigration law and DHS's subsequent attempt to unlawfully reallocate federal homeland security funding away from jurisdictions it viewed as insufficiently supportive of the President's political agenda.

Now, DHS and FEMA have established grant conditions for 2026 funding that again attempt to coerce the states into complying with the Administration's policy priorities. The conditions in total affect billions of dollars in funding, including over a billion dollars in Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) funding that states use to support security measures and protect residents from terrorism, cyberattacks and more. Today's lawsuit seeks to protect the full amount of nearly $7.3 million in Vermont DHS and FEMA grants announced thus far, as well millions more in forthcoming grants.

Specifically, the challenged funding conditions would require states to transition to paper-ballot systems, reconcile voters and ballots using a methodology DHS has not disclosed, and use DHS's Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system to verify the citizenship of every election worker and every registered voter in state's voter databases. If states do not comply, DHS and FEMA will withhold at least 20% of each state's HSGP funding.

Finally, the challenged funding conditions unlawfully claim to give DHS and FEMA the power to terminate these grants on a whim. This constant threat of termination for arbitrary, politically motivated reasons undermines Congress's intent to aid states in establishing stable and reliable preparedness programs deemed vital for local and national security. Last week, Vermont and a coalition of states succeeded in persuading a different federal court to reject the Trump administration's attempts to interpret an existing Office of Management and Budget regulation to grant the administration such unfettered authority of funds authorized by Congress.

The attorneys general argue in today's lawsuit that the grant conditions violate the Administrative Procedure Act and the U.S. Constitution's Spending Clause.

Joining Attorney General Clark in filing the lawsuit are 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, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin, as well as the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania.

This lawsuit is the 57^th case Attorney General Clark has brought against the Trump Administration since President Trump took office in January 2025. For more information on actions taken by the Attorney General on behalf of Vermonters, visit our website .

Contact: Haley Sommer, Senior Advisor to the Attorney General, 802-828-3171