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.