Cities sue DHS over frozen anti-terrorism funds
Five major U.S. cities are suing the Trump administration over funding to prevent nuclear attacks and terrorism that they argue has been illegally withheld by the Department of Homeland Security.
The lawsuit filed by Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver and Boston alleges that the administration has not reimbursed cities for relevant security expenses since February and has failed to award funding for 2025.
'Even by Trump standards, this action is astonishing,' Denver Mayor Mike Johnston told POLITICO on Tuesday. 'You are willfully putting Americans at risk of terror attacks.'
The Securing the Cities program was created to help cities prepare for the possibility of nuclear or terrorist attacks. It began first as a pilot program in the New York City region in 2006 and expanded over time to 13 cities. In 2018, the program was formally authorized by Congress.
'DHS cannot override Congress's judgment by freezing congressionally appropriated funding,' the lawsuit argues.
The lawsuit was initially filed by Chicago in May; the other four cities signed on Tuesday. DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the lawsuit.
'There's a pretty big irony between the rhetoric we're hearing from D.C. on the need to have safe and secure cities,' Seattle Deputy Mayor Greg Wong told POLITICO Tuesday, 'and what's happening here — where the actual dollars that go to support that at the city level are being held up.'
It's the latest in a series of lawsuits brought against the Trump administration by cities and states since January over the withholding or freezing of federal funds. Some of those lawsuits have already found success: A federal judge in Boston on Monday ruled that the elimination of certain NIH grants was illegal — calling their termination 'government racial discrimination.'
The lawsuit alleges that, since February, DHS has not reimbursed cities, even for security expenses that were already approved. Denver, for example, is still waiting on more than $300,000, according to Johnston's office. Securing the Cities funds in Denver have been used in the past for security for visits by both President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden, as well as for major sporting and music events that could be targets.
'It's one thing to say you're going to disagree about the use of FEMA funds for migrant services, or to say you disagree about transportation contracting with DEI priorities,' Johnston said. 'But to say you're going to cut anti-terrorist protections in American cities, I think, is way beyond the pale of debates about social policy.'
In the lawsuit, plaintiffs said they intend to use the money to help protect major sporting events taking place next year, like the Super Bowl in San Francisco and FIFA World Cup events in multiple cities.
In Seattle, for example, the city planned to spend this year's grant on 1,000 radiation detection devices that can catch terrorism devices like dirty bombs which could be detonated in a crowd. The equipment is expected to be part of the city's preparation to host World Cup matches in 2026, Wong told POLITICO.
'The Trump administration ordered us to pause on that purchase of equipment,' Wong said.
$300 million was distributed to cities in the program between 2007 and 2023, according to the Government Accountability Office, and annual funding for the program is estimated to be around $29 million. San Francisco and Chicago both said Tuesday they expected to receive about $1 million from the grant program.
The program has received scrutiny from lawmakers in the past. A bipartisan bill introduced by Rep. Troy Carter (D-La.) in 2024 would have required the program to establish performance metrics and reach specific milestones. The bill passed the House in March 2024 and made it through one Senate committee but failed to make it over the finish line. The GAO in 2024 also made five recommendations for DHS to make the program more effective. GAO eventually found the Biden administration either partially or fully addressed all five.
'This is one where all of our regional leaders, Republican and Democrat alike, are shocked that this is where we are,' Johnston said. 'We think this is a perfect reason why you go to court.'
Shia Kapos contributed to this report
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