Counterterror grants tied to election changes

Summary

On July 10, 2026, DHS announced that 20% of each recipient's Homeland Security Grant Program award - part of more than $1 billion in funding - would be withheld until recipients adopted federally specified election measures, including a transition to hand-marked paper ballots, manual audits and citizenship checks of voters and poll workers through the SAVE system.

What happened

The DHS conditions require recipients to submit a plan to transition from voting systems that use barcodes or QR codes to hand-marked paper ballots, manually audit at least 5% of ballots after each federal election, reconcile voter participation numbers with ballots cast, use SAVE within 120 days to verify the citizenship of everyone in the voter registration database, and verify the citizenship of poll workers and election-system operators. DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said 'election security is national security.' On July 23, 2026, 25 states and the District of Columbia sued FEMA and DHS in federal court in Rhode Island under the Administrative Procedure Act and the Spending Clause; CBS News reported FEMA could withhold about $148 million from the plaintiff states. On September 28, 2026, U.S. District Judge Amir Ali, in a suit brought by counties in Texas and Tennessee and the city of Columbus, Ohio, ruled that the statute 'does not authorize FEMA to withhold counterterrorism grants' until jurisdictions achieve the administration's policy objectives.

Impact on the United States

Put counterterrorism and emergency-preparedness funding for states and cities at risk unless they changed voting equipment and ran voter rolls through a federal citizenship database whose accuracy is contested in court, pressuring election administration during a live election cycle and shifting unfunded costs to state and local governments.

Documented effects

1. Jul 10, 2026DHS withholds 20% of Homeland Security Grant Program awards (part of more than $1 billion) pending election-security compliance, including SAVE citizenship checks[1]
2. Jul 23, 202625 states and DC sue FEMA and DHS; about $148 million of plaintiff states' awards at stake[2]
3. Sep 28, 2026Judge Amir Ali rules FEMA cannot withhold counterterrorism grants over the election conditions[3]
4. Sep 25, 202634 Democratic and independent senators say FEMA added new conditions to fiscal 2025 grant awards after the agreements were signed, and that FEMA and DHS staff said in a July 1 briefing they were unsure how the requirements could be implemented[4]

Why this is rated significant

Uses leverage over more than $1 billion in homeland-security grants to press states to change how they run elections - including running voter rolls through the SAVE system - months before a midterm, putting emergency-preparedness funding at risk; a federal court has since ruled the withholding unauthorized.

Judge Amir Ali ruled Sept 28, 2026, in a suit by counties in Texas and Tennessee and the city of Columbus, Ohio, that FEMA lacks authority to withhold the grants over election conditions; a separate suit by 25 states and DC is pending in Rhode Island

Corrections & updates [1]

Every change to a fact on this page after publication is logged here, newest first.

1. Sep 29, 2026ClarifiedSource tier

   A letter from 34 senators hosted by the committee minority is a partisan document, Tier 3 under this site's sourcing standard.[1]

Sources [4]