Blue states that feared losing terrorism prevention funds scored a win in federal court on Tuesday.
A federal judge blocked the Department of Homeland Security from distributing terrorism prevention funds in a manner that would have seen some blue states lose millions in funding.
The judge granted the temporary restraining order, ordering DHS to rescind the award notifications, deobligate the money and block DHS from distributing the funds while the matter is litigated. She wrote that the plaintiffs had a compelling case that DHS was violating the law by cutting their funding.
“The Court concludes that the Plaintiffs have established a strong likelihood of success on the merits, irreparable harm, and that the balance of equities and public interest favor the Plaintiffs,” a Rhode Island district court judge wrote.
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The states sued on Monday after the Department of Homeland Security made deep cuts to their the terrorism prevention funding. The lawsuit was filed by a coalition of blue states including Illinois, California, New York and Minnesota.
Together, the states saw cuts that amounted to an over 50% reduction from the original amount they had been guaranteed earlier in the year, according to the suit. It asked the court to “freeze matters in place” so the issue can be addressed after the fiscal year ends.
The Trump administration is currently engaged in a crackdown on domestic terrorism focused on “the radical left.” But it has also attempted to withhold money from states and localities that don’t fully cooperate with deportation efforts — and the states argued that their terrorism prevention funds are being slashed as part of that effort.
“Tell me, how does defunding California’s efforts to protect against terrorism make our communities safer?” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. “President Trump doesn’t like that we won’t be bullied into doing his bidding, ignoring our sovereign right to make decisions about how our law enforcement resources are best used to protect our communities.”
The funds are issued through FEMA’s Homeland Security Grant Program, which gives funds to states for “preventing, protecting against, mitigating, responding to and recovering from acts of terrorism and other threats.” The program was started post-9/11 and the money is used for a variety of counter-terrorism related expenses, including equipment, security, and training.
“Some States saw even sharper cuts: Illinois received a 69% reduction in Homeland Security Grant Program funds, totaling over $30 million, and New York received a 79% reduction in funds, totaling over $100 million,” the lawsuit reads. “The notifications provide no explanation for the reductions, except that each was “[a]djusted per DHS directive.”
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for more information on the directive.
Earlier this year, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem issued a memo to all agencies and offices calling for the restriction of funds to sanctuary jurisdiction. The Trump administration was sued over the decision and it was found to be unlawful.
The Department of Justice has published a list of sanctuary states — many of the states that are part of the lawsuit are listed.
“Although DHS has for decades administered federal grant programs in a fair and evenhanded manner, the current Administration is taking money from its enemies,” the lawsuit says. “Or, as defendant Secretary Noem put it succinctly in a February 19 internal memorandum, States whose policies she dislikes “should not receive a single dollar of the Department’s money.”
According to the complaint, some red states, including Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, and Tennessee, saw substantial increases in their funding.
The funds are for Fiscal Year 2025, which ends Tuesday, and have not yet been distributed. If the funds were distributed at lower figures to these states and higher figures to others, it was possible that the states in the lawsuit would not be able to recover the money. They warned that some operations may have to stop as a result.
In many of the states, funding for election security training and for training to combat domestic violence extremism was slashed. So was funding directed toward cyber security efforts, in addition to funding for tools like personal protective equipment and communication equipment
for law enforcement.
“The federal government is putting our communities at risk in an attempt to illegally force states to support its attacks on immigrants,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James. “Our law enforcement and local leaders depend on these FEMA grants to prepare for emergencies and stop dangerous threats to public safety.”
This is not the first time states are seeing cuts to the terrorism prevention programs this year — the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships, which issued the Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention Grant Program, has been all but gutted.
Resources at DHS have instead been diverted toward border security efforts — funding to states for HSGP’s border security subprogram were undisturbed, according to the suit.
The cuts come at a moment of heightened political violence — the Trump administration’s crackdown on terrorism was spurred by the assassination of Charlie Kirk in early September, and after two separate incidents where Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities were the subject of attacks.
“The Trump administration is jeopardizing the safety of Americans in a chaotic and illegal attempt to coerce states into compliance with the president’s political agenda,” Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in a statement. “Congress approved this funding with the understanding that our nation is at its strongest when all Americans, everywhere, are protected from terrorism.”
This story has been updated to reflect the judge’s order.
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