Attorney General Bonta Protects Critical Homeland Security Funding from Politically Motivated Cut

Trump Administration drops appeal of final order, permanently and fully resolving case in California’s favor

OAKLAND – California Attorney General Rob Bonta today announced the successful resolution of a multistate lawsuit to stop the Trump Administration from unlawfully allocating federal homeland security funding to and from states based on their compliance with the Administration’s political agenda. In December, the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island granted a motion for summary judgment brought by Attorney General Bonta, and a coalition of 11 other attorneys general, and the governor of Pennsylvania. The Trump Administration initially appealed the ruling, but dropped the appeal, resolving the case fully and permanently in California and the multistate coalition’s favor.

“The Trump Administration’s anti-public safety agenda was on full display when it tried to rip away critical homeland security funds from California and other Democratic-led states for partisan, political purposes,” said Attorney General Bonta. “These are funds that help us prepare for and protect against terrorism and other threats — not a political bargaining chip. My office successfully sued to stop this illegal diversion, and now, the Trump Administration has waved the white flag, ensuring these funds will flow to California as Congress intended.” 

In September 2025, without any notice or explanation, and four days before the end of the federal fiscal year, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) significantly cut funding to certain states that are unwilling to divert law enforcement resources away from core public safety services to assist in enforcing federal immigration law, while reallocating those funds to other states.

FEMA issued award notifications in September for its single largest grant program, the Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP), which allocates approximately $1 billion in funds annually for state and municipal efforts to prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from acts of terrorism and other catastrophes. FEMA granted only $250 million to the 12 states that joined Attorney General Bonta in the lawsuit. This represents a nearly $242 million, or 49%, reduction from the total amount that FEMA had previously stated it would provide to these states. 

The U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island ordered DHS to amend the HSGP awards issued to the plaintiff states to reflect the funding levels that DHS had previously stated it would allocate, before the last-minute changes. The court further held that other significant changes to emergency-preparedness programs, also made at the last minute at the end of the federal fiscal year, were unlawful and set them aside.

Attorney General Bonta was joined in filing the lawsuit by the attorneys general of Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, as well as the governor of Pennsylvania.