Courts Block DHS, FEMA Grant Cuts

Federal judges have temporarily barred DHS and FEMA from diverting or cutting tens to hundreds of millions in homeland-security and emergency-preparedness grants, including orders protecting roughly $34 million for New York City’s transit system and about $187 million in other awards. Multiple lawsuits — including actions by a coalition of states and attorneys general, New York’s attorney general, San Francisco and Santa Clara County, and a group of 29 local jurisdictions — allege the administration illegally conditioned or reallocated more than $350 million in grants on compliance with federal immigration enforcement and anti‑DEI policies. Plaintiffs say the agencies abruptly shortened spending windows and attached unlawful conditions that would cripple counterterrorism, transit security, cybersecurity, and other first‑responder programs. Courts have found similar agency actions arbitrary and capricious and issued injunctions while litigation continues across multiple federal courts, leaving critical preparedness funding uncertain ahead of disaster seasons and major events.