California Attorney General Rob Bonta has obtained a permanent injunction that halts the diversion of hundreds of millions of dollars in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Homeland Security Grant Program funding from California and other states. The funding had been withheld based on state policies that the Trump Administration opposed.
“Over and over, the courts have rebuked the Trump Administration’s unlawful attempts to punish states for adopting policies it doesn’t like,” said Attorney General Bonta. “The Trump Administration may go down in history as the most anti-public safety administration in history, yanking funding that states like California use to help us prepare for and protect against terrorism and other threats. I’m gratified the court saw through the President’s flimsy excuses and issued an order that ensures we get the funding we’re legally entitled to.”
For many years, California has depended on Homeland Security Grant Program funds to prevent, respond to, and recover from terrorism and disasters. These grants have traditionally been distributed based on need and risk as determined by Congress. In September, however, several states received lower-than-expected award notifications without clear explanation. The reductions appeared linked to decisions by some states not to use law enforcement resources for federal immigration enforcement.
Attorney General Bonta led a coalition that filed suit and secured a temporary restraining order preventing the reallocation of these funds while litigation continued. The complaint was later amended after FEMA imposed a new requirement on Emergency Management Performance Grants—asking states to certify their current populations instead of using census data, which was information they did not possess.
The recent court decision vacates these agency actions and grants permanent injunctive relief for plaintiff states. FEMA is now ordered to reissue award letters reflecting original grant amounts and remove the population certification condition.
Rob Bonta leads the California Attorney General’s office, which serves as the state’s chief law enforcement authority overseeing legal representation, criminal investigations, consumer protections, civil rights initiatives, environmental justice efforts, and public data transparency across California. The office is part of California’s executive branch government structure and operates statewide with its main headquarters in Sacramento.