Trump holds terror funds hostage to muscle states into rewriting voting rules: NYT
States are being pressured into rewriting their election rules to receive terrorism grants, according to a New York Times report.
The Trump administration is demanding that states overhaul how they run elections, a few months before the midterms, or forfeit tens of millions in federal counterterrorism funding, The Times reported.
The changes include transitioning to hand-marked paper ballots, verifying the citizenship of voters, and conducting manual audits of 5 percent of ballots, which is "likely to cause significant delays in counting, cost millions of dollars and, in some cases, fall far short of what would be considered an adequate audit for races with narrow margins," The Times noted.
The measures demanded by the Trump administration "will actually harm election security," David Becker, who directs the Center for Election Innovation and Research, told The Times.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), wants states to provide "proof of compliance" to receive counterterrorism funding, The Times reported. FEMA is threatening to withhold 20 percent of certain terrorism-preparedness grants, totaling roughly $1 billion a year. Those grants pay for security barriers, cybersecurity protections, planning, and drills, The Times reported.
According to the Times, the grants largely flow to populous states, and New York is slated to receive about $204 million through those grants in fiscal year 2026. Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) accused the Trump administration of putting residents at risk to advance a political agenda, The Times reported.
Courts have repeatedly blocked similar attempts, ruling that the Constitution gives the executive branch no authority over elections, which states run and Congress oversees. The Times noted, pointing out that two Trump executive orders seeking sweeping election changes have largely been struck down.
Becker told The Times that he expects the election rules the Trump administration is pushing to collapse in court. DHS said in an unsigned statement that election security was a top priority, according to The Times.
