Nashville joins lawsuit against Homeland Security over anti-terrorism funding
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Nashville joined a coalition of cities and counties suing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for threatening to withhold federal funding for anti-terrorism and emergency responses.
- The cities and counties, including Columbus, Ohio, and Harris County, where Houston is located, say the Trump administration is withholding the money unless they implement certain election policies locally.
Why it matters: It's the latest battlefront in President Trump's bid to advance his proposed election reforms.
The big picture: The cities' federal lawsuit says tens of millions of dollars are at stake.
- DHS placed new eligibility requirements on the Homeland Security anti-terrorism grant funding in June.
Friction point: According to a news release, the new conditions require states to use the "Systematic Alien Verification" system to check the citizenship of every poll worker and registered voter. The program also requires a 5% manual audit of paper ballots.
- States that don't comply are forced to forfeit their anti-terrorism grant funding, according to the release.
What she's saying: “This lawsuit seeks to secure necessary funding that would provide equipment and training to Nashville’s first responders in handling emergency or terrorist events in our city," Metro legal director Tyler Yarbro said in a statement.
- "The Trump administration wants to withhold those funds unless we implement wholly unnecessary and costly changes to our election procedures."
Editor’s note: This story and editor's note have been corrected to reflect that Harris County (not the cities Houston or Austin) is part of the lawsuit.