AG Brown protects homeland security funding from politically motivated cuts as federal government drops appeal

Attorney General Nick Brown and a multistate coalition have successfully resolved a lawsuit stopping the Trump administration from unlawfully taking homeland security funding away from states that would not comply with the administration’s political agenda.

In December, the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island granted a motion for summary judgment brought by Brown, 11 other attorneys general, and the governor of Pennsylvania. The Trump administration initially appealed the ruling, but dropped the appeal today, ending the case. 

“This latest win affirms funding that protects Americans from acts of terrorism may not be used as a political tool,” Brown said. “My office has repeatedly beaten this administration in court when they threaten the rights and well-being of Washingtonians.”

On Sept. 27, without any notice or explanation, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) significantly cut funding to certain states unwilling to divert precious local law enforcement resources away from core public safety services to assist in enforcing federal immigration law, while reallocating those funds to other states.

FEMA’s Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) allocates approximately $1 billion in funds annually for state and municipal efforts to prevent, prepare for, and respond to acts of terrorism, but last year’s grants amounted to just half the total amount that FEMA had previously stated it would provide to the states that eventually sued. Washington’s expected allocation was abruptly reduced by $2 million. DHS then redistributed those funds to other states.

The court ordered DHS to amend the HSGP awards issued to the plaintiff states to reflect the funding levels that DHS had previously stated it would allocate before the last-minute changes. The court further held that other significant changes to emergency-preparedness programs, also made at the last minute at the end of the federal fiscal year, were unlawful and set them aside. DHS’s dismissal of its appeal means this order remains in place. 

Joining Brown in filing the lawsuit were the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont, and the governor of Pennsylvania.

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