Attorney General Ford Secures Order Protecting FEMA Funding from Illegal Conditions

Carson City, NV — Today, Nevada Attorney General Aaron D. Ford announced that he secured an order last week from the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon blocking the Trump administration from imposing unlawful conditions on two Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grants. In November, Attorney General Ford joined a coalition of 12 states in filing a lawsuit against Secretary Kristi Noem, the Department of Homeland Security, Secretary David Richardson, and FEMA for unlawfully interfering with grant funding already promised to states for emergency management, disaster relief, and homeland security operations.

“The Trump administration’s attempt to undermine Nevada's readiness for emergency situations and security threats is a total abdication of the government’s responsibility to its constituents,” said Attorney General Ford. “The terms that President Trump’s administration attempted to place on these grants were blatantly illegal, and we are proud that the court has agreed."

Since taking office in January, the Trump administration has attempted to reduce FEMA’s role and shift the burden of emergency management to the states by denying or restricting requests for emergency declarations; withholding grant funding; and imposing irrelevant and unconstitutional terms on recipients of long-standing FEMA grants. Many of these illegal actions have been successfully challenged in court.

In this case, the coalition successfully argued that the Trump Administration included illegal and impossible-to-meet grant terms in the Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) and the Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) that departed from past practice and served only as obstacles to States obtaining and using the funding.

These grants fund a substantial portion of Nevada’s Office of Emergency Management. They also provide federal funding to states to assist with homeland security and terrorism prevention, amounts which included $4,218,945 in Emergency Management Performance Grant funds and $15,317,511 in Homeland Security Grant Program funds for fiscal year 2025.

The federal government had placed an improper funding hold on one grant and changed the timeline for the expenditure of funding under both grants. The Court found that these terms violated the Administrative Procedure Act in several respects. Specifically, the hold on the EMPG exceeded defendants’ statutory authority; was contrary to law; and was arbitrary and capricious. Likewise, the changed timeline for both grants was arbitrary and capricious because FEMA disregarded the States’ reliance interests and did not explain the change. By imposing these terms, the Trump administration inappropriately restricted the states’ ability to use the funding as anticipated — including for past and future projects that fall within the scope of the grant programs. In its December 23 order, the Court vacated the challenged terms and entered permanent injunctive relief barring FEMA from imposing the terms.

Joining Attorney General Ford in securing this order are the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon and Wisconsin, as well as the governor of Kentucky.

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