Judge Blocks FEMA From Tying Antiterrorism Grants to Election Changes

A US judge has blocked the Trump administration from tying antiterrorism grants to election changes. The ruling was issued in a case brought by local governments challenging the Department of Homeland Security's attempt to make election-related requirements a condition for receiving funds under the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Homeland Security Grant Program.

The case, Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee, et al. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, et al., is before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and is being heard by Judge Amir H. Ali. According to Punch Nigeria, governments in Tennessee, Texas and Ohio had asked the court to rule in their favour, arguing that Congress had not conditioned the receipt of counterterrorism grants on how localities administer elections.

The Trump administration had threatened to withhold some Homeland Security money unless states explored paper balloting and citizenship verification, The New York Times reported. The Homeland Security Grant Program provides federal funding to state and local governments for preventing, protecting against and responding to terrorism and other security threats.

Brief written by urgent.news from The New York Times, Punch Nigeria, Punch — 3 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.