A federal judge in Washington, D.C., ruled Monday that the Trump administration cannot tie counterterrorism grants for states and local governments to changes in election administration. U.S. District Judge Amir Ali vacated a FEMA rule that would have withheld 20% of the funding unless recipients met the agency’s election-related conditions.
Ali said FEMA exceeded its authority by linking the grants to routine election administration and had not demonstrated a connection between the requested changes and terrorism prevention, CNBC reported. The Washington Post reported that the conditions included checking voters’ citizenship status. The case was brought in August by counties in Texas and Tennessee and Columbus, Ohio, according to CNBC; Democracy Docket identified Nashville and Davidson County, Harris and El Paso counties, and Columbus among the plaintiffs. FEMA is part of the Department of Homeland Security.