California, other states sue Trump administration for 'unlawful' conditions on disaster grants

This is read by an automated voice.Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.

See more from the L.A.Times in Google Search.

Set us as preferred California Atty.Gen.

Rob Bonta and other Democratic attorneys general are suing the Trump administration over imposing what they contend are “unlawful” conditions on federal grants intended to help states prepare and respond to disasters.The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Rhode Island on Thursday, argues that the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency have been using their control over billions of dollars in federal grants to operate what the attorneys general see as an aggressive “campaign of coercion” to adopt the Trump administration’s preferred voting and immigration policies, according to the complaint.“Congress never gave DHS or FEMA authority to rewrite state election law, require cooperation with federal immigration agents, or terminate federal funding streams at any time and for any reason,” the lawsuit stated.The legal action was filed by a coalition of 24 attorneys general and Kentucky Gov.

Andy Beshear and Pennsylvania Gov.Josh Shapiro, both Democrats.A spokesperson for the White House did not respond to a request for comment.At the crux of their legal complaint are two federal programs: the Homeland Security Grant Program, which was established by Congress as a response to the Sept.

11 terrorist attacks, and the Emergency Management Performance Grant Program, which helps states pay for emergency management staff who plan for and respond to natural disasters and mass casualty events, as well as software programs used by state emergency operations centers.For the homeland security grant, the Trump administration has attached “radical” new terms based on Trump’s preferred policies, the states contend.These terms include verifying the citizenship of all individuals in state voter databases, transitioning their voting systems to equipment th...