Chicago v. Noem

Nine local governments sued 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. 

Chicago is lead plaintiff and Public Rights Project is representing the additional plaintiffs.

The lawsuit 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 administration is demanding that local governments abandon diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) 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.

This lawsuit follows a similar case filed by nearly 30 West Coast local government entities. 

Update:

On Oct. 24, 2025, the coalition filed a request for a preliminary injunction to stop DHS and FEMA from imposing and enforcing unlawful grant conditions while the case proceeds. We are asking the judge to find that the coalition has shown a likelihood of success by proving that the Trump administration wrongly imposed these grant conditions.

Read the motion.

Update:

On Nov. 21, a district court judge granted a preliminary injunction, blocking DHS and FEMA from imposing and enforcing unlawful grant conditions on emergency management funding while the case moves forward. As a result, the plaintiffs are entitled to receive their grant funding during the litigation without agreeing to the challenged conditions.

Read the decision.

Update:

On January 21, 2026, we filed an amended complaint with five new plaintiffs. The case now includes a total of 14 local governments and local government entities as plaintiffs.

The latest filing also emphasizes the World Cup-related grants at issue in the case and includes disaster relief public assistance grants.

The amended complaint explains that the new plaintiffs are facing the same unlawful conditions on DHS and FEMA grants as the original plaintiffs.

Read the amended complaint.

Update:

On February 4, 2026 we filed a motion to extend the existing preliminary injunction that blocks FEMA and DHS from imposing and enforcing grant conditions on these funding streams while the case moves forward.

Read the motion.