City of Saint Paul Joins Eight Local Governments in Lawsuit to Protect Over $100 Million in Emergency and Disaster Funding

SAINT PAUL—Today, the City of Saint Paul joined eight local governments in suing the Trump administration for attempting to impose unlawful and unrelated conditions on federal emergency and disaster preparedness funds. The conditions would force local governments to adopt the administration’s political agenda or risk losing critical funding. 

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Illinois, centers on over $100 million in grants administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). These funds help the local governments safeguard their residents — more than 14 million people — by supporting fire department staffing, port and transit security, counterterrorism preparedness and hazard mitigation projects like flood prevention. The lawsuit asks the court to stop DHS and FEMA from using these life-saving funds as leverage for unrelated political agendas.  
 

"Saint Paul families and businesses pay billions in federal taxes,” said Mayor Carter. “We deserve support in a crisis, not a government that weaponizes government aid.” 

The administration is demanding that local governments abandon diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and comply with all executive orders related to grant funding as a condition of receiving federal dollars. These conditions are unrelated to the purpose of the grants themselves. The plaintiffs argue that they are unconstitutional and exceed the executive’s authority, falling far outside what Congress authorized. 
 
“Grant funding is absolutely vital to our city’s emergency and disaster preparedness,” said Rick Schute, Director of Emergency Management. “It supports everything from firefighter staffing and equipment to training, public education, and critical infrastructure. These resources are life-saving investments. We cannot afford to compromise our ability to respond swiftly and effectively to emergencies.”

The stakes are high in communities across the country. The City of Saint Paul depends on funding from DHS to enable its emergency management personnel and services to adequately ensure community safety.

The city expends approximately $2.5 million annually in funds from DHS to provide firefighting equipment and training, emergency response, paramedic training, and terrorism-prevention and response.

Currently, the Saint Paul Emergency Management Department: 

These imposed conditions would force Saint Paul to choose between accepting those conditions or losing access to approximately $4 million in pending or awarded grant amounts in DHS/FEMA funding.

“Without these funds, Saint Paul will need to immediately absorb millions of dollars in staffing and equipment costs in the city’s annual budget,” Grants Director Lindsay Bacher said, “or be unable to pay for over 50% of the Emergency Management department’s staffing and forego essential training and equipment investments in the city’s safety and emergency infrastructure.” 

This funding is administered to the city through FEMA grant programs, including the Homeland Security Grant Program, the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program, the Port Security Grant Program, the Emergency Management Performance Grant, the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grant Program, and the Fire Prevention and Safety Grant Program.  

“We’ve already been here and the courts have made it clear these actions are illegal,” said Saint Paul City Attorney Lyndsay Olson. “But we won’t back down. We’re stepping up once more to challenge the Trump Administration’s unlawful actions and protect the critical funding our emergency services rely on.” 

The City of Chicago is the lead plaintiff. The additional plaintiffs are:  

Review a copy of the complaints in case Chicago v. Noem et al (Case No. cv-12765). 

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