Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, TN v. DHS

On behalf of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee; City of Columbus, Ohio; El Paso County, Texas; and Harris County, Texas, Protect Democracy and its partners are suing the Department of Homeland Security to challenge the agency’s new election-related conditions on anti-terrorism grants administered through FEMA’s Homeland Security Grant Program. The new election conditions threaten to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars in terrorism prevention funds unless states and covered local governments adopt five mandatory changes to their election procedures (e.g., using the notoriously inaccurate Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system to verify the citizenship of voters and pollworkers). 

Alongside co-counsel at the Jacobson Lawyers Group, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, and Public Rights Project, Protect Democracy is fighting back against yet another desperate attempt by the Trump administration to interfere with our elections. 

Co-Counsel

• Brennan Center for Justice
• Public Rights Project
• Jacobson Lawyers Group

Background

In June, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced new election administration conditions on states and local governments seeking funding from the Homeland Security Grant Program, which was first established by Congress in 2001 to help localities prevent and respond to natural disasters and acts of terrorism. FEMA’s new requirements demand that states and covered local governments abandon electronic voting systems, manually audit at least five percent of ballots cast, and use DHS’s notoriously error-prone SAVE system to “verify” the citizenship of every pollworker and registered voter. States that do not comply with the new requirements will be forced to forfeit millions of dollars that Congress intended to give them. 

FEMA has no authority to impose these election administration conditions – not under its governing statute and not under the Constitution. These new conditions violate the Constitution and Administration Procedure Act in several ways, detailed in the lawsuit. 

Why It Matters

These new, unconstitutional grant conditions show just how far the president will go to seize control of elections. On the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the Trump administration is illegally holding up millions of dollars that communities rely on for emergency response and weakening local public safety budgets. The Constitution gives Congress the power to decide how tax dollars are spent, not the president. Congress decided years ago that keeping communities safe from terrorism is a national priority. 

The grant conditions come amid a broader effort by the Trump administration to destabilize U.S. elections and lay the groundwork to challenge midterm results.

The Constitution is clear: Power over elections doesn’t belong to the president or his administration; it belongs to the states and Congress.

“This is the kind of federal overreach we’ve come to expect from the Trump administration,” said Abbie Kamin, Harris County Attorney. “To threaten law enforcement and public safety funding our agencies rely on, to withhold dollars that protect our communities for a partisan power grab is not only improper, it’s dangerous. Local control of elections is embedded in our Constitution, and any attempt to upend that must be vigorously guarded against.” 

“Holding critical grant funding hostage to advance a false political narrative is unlawful. It comes at the direct expense of local election offices, law enforcement agencies, and the communities they are entrusted to serve,” said El Paso County Attorney Christina Sanchez. “Local election offices already face some of the toughest oversight and requirements designed to keep their operations safe and secure. Imposing additional requirements is both costly and burdensome, while our law enforcement agencies rely on this funding to purchase critical equipment that helps protect and save lives. El Paso County joins other local jurisdictions in pushing back against this dangerous overreach imposed by a rogue and politically compromised federal agency,” Sanchez concluded.

“This lawsuit seeks to secure necessary funding that would provide equipment and training to Nashville’s first responders in handling emergency or terrorist events in our city,” said Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County’s Director of Law Tyler Yarbro. “The Trump administration wants to withhold those funds unless we implement wholly unnecessary and costly changes to our election procedures. Courts have consistently rejected the administration’s efforts to meddle in elections. We are proud to join other cities and counties across the country to ensure that our access to federal funds designated for first responders is protected.”

“Holding cities hostage by threatening anti-terrorism funding if they don’t go along with the president’s absurd election manipulation is as dangerous as it is illegal,” said Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein. “We’re fighting back to protect public safety and election integrity. We will not be bullied by this president and his administration.”

Plaintiffs

• City of Columbus, OH
• El Paso County, TX
• Harris County, TX
• Metropolitan Government of Nashville, TN
• Davidson County, TN

Defendants

• U.S. Department of Homeland Security
• Todd Blanche, U.S. Attorney General

Case documents