Attorney General Ford Sues Trump Administration in Challenge to Illegal Terms to FEMA Grants

Carson City, NV – Today, Nevada Attorney General Aaron D. Ford announced he has filed a lawsuit against DHS Secretary Kristi Noem; the Department of Homeland Security (DHS); Acting FEMA Administrator David Richardson; and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for, once again, interfering with grants to the states for emergency management, disaster-relief and homeland security operations. Attorney General Ford is joined by 10 other attorneys general in filing this lawsuit, as well as the governor of Kentucky.

 
“Making arbitrary changes to the terms of these grants that have helped keep Nevada safe for years is a slap in the face to everyone who lives in or visits Nevada,” said Attorney General Ford. “I will not allow the Trump administration to toy with the safety of the Silver State in order to score political points. The restrictions they are attempting to place on this funding are illegal, and I am confident the courts will agree.”

 
Since taking office in January, the Trump administration has attempted to reduce FEMA’s role and shift the burden of emergency management to the states by denying or restricting requests for emergency declarations; withholding grant funding; and imposing irrelevant and unconstitutional terms on recipients of long-standing FEMA grants. Many of these illegal actions have been successfully challenged in court.

The coalition maintains that the Trump administration included illegal and virtually impossible-to-meet grant terms in the Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) and the Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) that depart from past practice and serve only as obstacles in obtaining and using funding that has been previously provided to Nevada for years.

 
Nevada was awarded $4,218,945 for the 2025 Emergency Management Performance Grant, as well as $15,317,511 for the 2025 Homeland Security Grant Program. Of the latter amount, $4,362,750 was awarded to the State Homeland Security Program and $10,954,761 was awarded to the Urban Area Security Initiative program. However, the federal government has attempted to place unlawful restrictions on these awards, including immigration-related restrictions. Attorney General Ford has brought this lawsuit with his colleagues in direct response to the attempted placement of these unlawful restrictions.

 
The federal government has placed an improper funding hold on one grant and changed the timeline for the expenditure of funding under both grants. The coalition argues that these terms are unlawful because they exceed Defendants’ authority; are contrary to law; fail to comply with required procedures; and are unexplained. By imposing these terms, Defendants have inappropriately restricted the states’ ability to use the funding as anticipated — including for past and future projects that fall within the scope of the grant programs.
Joining Attorney General Ford on this lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon and Wisconsin, as well as the Governor of Kentucky. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon.