US Court Order to Halt FEMA's Election Conditional Funding Withholding

Washington District Court judge Amir Ali announced his decision on the issue as the Congressional midterm elections to be held on November 3, 2026 approach.

The decision ruled that federal agencies were not authorized by Congress to condition the granting of these grants on conditions related to the conduct of elections.

It was stated in the decision that these conditions did not meet the legal criteria that require the grants to be related to their main purpose, and that the practice of cutting off some federal anti-terrorism funds to states that did not meet the conditions set by the Trump administration regarding the conduct of elections was stopped.

In the anti-terrorism grant program announced by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), it was envisaged that 20 percent of the funds allocated for states and urban areas would not be given until the conditions determined for the elections were met.

These requirements included verifying that all registered voters and election officials are U.S. citizens, and that local governments that have electronic systems that use barcodes or QR codes to count votes submit plans to switch to hand-marked paper ballots.

While some city governments filed a lawsuit on the grounds that FEMA did not have the authority to impose these conditions on the conduct of elections, state governments also filed a similar lawsuit on the issue.