Judge Blocks FEMA From Tying $1 Billion in Terrorism Grants to Election Changes

U.S. District Judge Amir H. Ali ruled on September 28, 2026, that FEMA could not condition roughly $1 billion a year in terrorism-preparedness grants on states "exploring a transition to paper ballots or verifying voters' citizenship." FEMA had threatened to withhold up to 20% of the funding from noncompliant states. Local governments in Tennessee, Texas and Ohio sued FEMA and DHS, arguing the conditions exceeded the agencies' authority over elections and risked disenfranchising eligible voters. Ali's order struck the election-related requirements from the grant program.

The ruling touches two constitutional limits at once: restrictions on using spending conditions to coerce states into policies Congress never authorized, and the Constitution's assignment of election administration to the states. Attaching voting-related strings to a counterterrorism grant with no stated link to election security is the kind of leverage courts have historically treated with skepticism.

The order blocks FEMA's conditions while the case proceeds. FEMA and DHS had not responded to requests for comment, and it was not immediately clear whether the administration would appeal.