Is withholding federal counterterrorism funds from states – as FEMA has threatened – legal?

Legal scholars argue that when executive branch agencies impose conditions on federal funds, courts should give these cases special scrutiny.

By: Austin Sarat, Amherst College, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: July 24, 2026

Words: 1,306

Last Updated: 3 weeks, 5 days ago

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By Austin Sarat, Amherst College

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has issued new grant guidelines that threaten to withhold counterterrorism funds from states that do not comply with President Donald Trump’s election security directives.

The agency told states they must “reconcile the number of voters who voted in federal elections with the number of ballots cast. They must use the federal SAVE database to verify the citizenship of everyone in the …

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