Nashville has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security over how it restricted anti-terrorism dollars.
The Homeland Security Grant Program emerged in 2001 in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks to help localities prevent and respond to acts of terrorism.
But in June the Federal Emergency Management Agency — the agency through which DHS administers the grant — placed new eligibility requirements on the funding by linking to mandates for how elections are operated. In a release, conditions were described by DHS as “common-sense election security measures,” and include mandated changes to electronic voting systems, a 5% manual audit of all paper ballots and ensuring that the number of ballots cast aligns with the number of voters participating.
The new requirements also demand that states implement a system to check on citizenship. This tool, known as the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, has been around for decades, and was primarily used by state and federal agencies to check whether foreign-born residents could access certain government benefits. But, last year, the system was overhauled by the Trump administration to aggregate Americans’ personal data to verify voter eligibility.
Since the change, the system has mistakenly flagged some foreign-born American citizens as potential noncitizens, and has been found by a federal judge to be unlawful in its current form.
FEMA’s new requirements mandate states use SAVE to verify the citizenship of voters and poll workers.
Any states that do not comply with SAVE usage, or other new conditions, will be forced to forfeit 20% of their Homeland Security Grant Program funds.
The lawsuit, which was jointly filed by Metro Nashville, the city of Columbus, Ohio, and El Paso and Harris Counties (both in Texas), alleges that FEMA has no authority to impose these conditions. It states that “the power to administer elections belongs to the states, subject only to conditions imposed by Congress — not the President, not the Secretary of Homeland Security, and not FEMA.”
In a statement, a FEMA spokesperson rebutted the lawsuit as “partisan pushback” that the agency anticipated.
“Election security is national security, and protecting our critical infrastructure remains a top priority for the Trump Administration,” the statement reads “This year, states must take critical, common-sense steps to protect U.S. elections before receiving their full Homeland Security Grant Program awards.”
The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The plaintiffs are represented by represented by Protect Democracy, the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU, Public Rights Project, and the Jacobson Lawyers Group. They’re asking the court to declare the conditions imposed on the grant unlawful, and prevent them from being imposed on future grants.
“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 Metro Legal Director 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.”
Since President Trump took office, Metro has filed or joined at least five lawsuits challenging the administration on federal funding freezes, grant clawbacks and policy changes.
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