Judge blocks Trump from cutting $350 million in grants to cities, counties

By Dietrich Knauth

NEW YORK (Reuters) -A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s administration ​from unilaterally imposing new conditions on over $350 million in ‌U.S. Department of Homeland Security grants to more than two dozen cities and ‌counties in California, Washington and Arizona.

U.S. District Judge William Orrick in San Francisco ruled the Trump administration likely violated the law when it issued executive orders that sought to cut off DHS funding to local ⁠governments unless they supported ‌federal immigration enforcement, ended programs that support diversity, stopped providing benefits to immigrants who are in the country ‍illegally, and complied with the president’s other executive orders.

The plaintiffs, which include San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego, sued the Trump ​administration on September 30, saying the federal government was playing ‌politics with DHS and Federal Emergency Management Agency grants that local governments use to prepare for and recover from disasters.

The cities and counties in the lawsuit represent 30 million people, and they said collectively they have over $350 million in grants at stake. Local governments use the ⁠federal grants to hire first responders, ​fund search and rescue operations, train ​employees in disaster response, and prepare for events like Super Bowl LX and the 2026 FIFA World Cup, ‍according to Santa ⁠Clara County in California, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit.

The federal government has also threatened to criminally prosecute or claw back ⁠funds from localities that accept DHS money but do not comply with the new executive ‌orders, according to the lawsuit.

(Reporting by Dietrich ‌Knauth; Editing by Chris Reese)