Bay Area sues Trump admin over disaster funding conditions
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U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is named in a new lawsuit brought by San Francisco and 28 other local jurisdictions. Photo: Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)
San Francisco and Santa Clara County are leading a new lawsuit that accuses the Trump administration of holding hostage over $350 million in disaster preparedness funding.
Why it matters: Those funds protect more than 8 million people in the Bay Area and over 30 million across the nation, bolstering fire department staffing, port and transit security, counterterrorism efforts and wildfire and flood prevention, according to local officials.
Driving the news: San Francisco is one of 29 local jurisdictions involved in the lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday.
- It alleges that the Trump administration illegally made federal emergency and disaster preparedness grant funds to local governments contingent on adherence to immigration enforcement and anti-DEI policies.
- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which administers the grants with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), issued a standards and conditions memo in April requiring recipients to comply with immigration operations and federal laws against DEI "ideology."
What they're saying: "Local governments shouldn't have to pass a political litmus test to be able to care for their communities," Santa Clara County's attorney, Tony LoPresti, said at a press conference Wednesday.
- "We are being asked to agree that our cities and counties will always abide by every future illegal or unconstitutional executive order issued by President Trump for the indefinite future," San Francisco city attorney David Chiu told Axios. "We obviously cannot agree to that."
The other side: "For too long, FEMA's programs have strayed from their core mission turning taxpayer money into a slush fund for woke projects based on outdated and flawed methodologies. That ends now," a statement from FEMA to Axios states.
- "DHS and FEMA slashed bloated spending to ensure every dollar strengthens America's defenses," the statement added.
Zoom in: For San Francisco, at least nine grant programs have "illegal conditions" attached, putting "tens of millions of dollars" at risk, Chiu said.
- These funds include security initiatives involving the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Bay Area ports, as well as earthquake mitigation, infectious disease outbreaks, disaster recovery and emergency communications, according to Chiu.
- At least $3 million to enhance security on public transportation is on the chopping block as well, he added.
What we're watching: The 2026 Super Bowl and World Cup matches in Santa Clara, expected to draw over half a million people to the Bay Area, will require heightened public safety resources accessible only via federal funding, LoPresti noted.
- If the case remains unresolved by February, Bay Area governments will have to backfill funds amid already strained budgets, LoPresti added.
The big picture: This is the ninth lawsuit that San Francisco has been involved in against the Trump administration.
- A federal judge earlier this summer temporarily blocked the Trump administration's efforts to withhold grant funding from cities that don't cooperate with immigration enforcement in a separate case involving the city.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to include comment from FEMA.