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The City of Chicago filed a federal lawsuit on Monday to challenge new and unlawful conditions imposed by Trump administration on federal emergency grants.
The lawsuit seeks to protect millions of dollars in funding that support the city’s ability to prepare for emergencies, including terrorism, public safety threats and natural disasters.
“Chicago will not stand by while the federal government weaponizes emergency funding to attack our values,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a written release. “Chicago will always uphold the importance of our diversity. Ensuring that all Chicagoans have an opportunity to succeed is not discrimination; it’s just basic fairness. We will fight to ensure our first responders have the tools they need, that our commitment to equity and inclusion remains strong, and that we receive every federal dollar intended for public safety.”
The city alleges that new conditions from DHS would require Chicago to confirm that they don’t operate any “programs that advance DEI, DEIA and discriminatory equity ideology” or they’d lose funding. The new restrictions, according to a written release from Mayor Brandon Johnson, “threaten to undermine congressional intent in funding these programs and jeopardize essential emergency response capabilities.”
For decades, the federal government has partnered with local governments to support emergency response and disaster preparedness through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergeny Management Agency grants. Funding from the agencies help cities train first responders, modernize emergency operations centers, build public alert systems and purchase life-saving equipment such as bomb squad hazmat suits.
“The federal government cannot demand that cities dismantle DEI programs in exchange for disaster relief,” Corporation Counsel Mary B. RichardsonLowry said in a written release. “We are taking action to ensure that Chicago’s emergency response systems remain robust, inclusive, and grounded in constitutional principles.”
The lawsuit which was filed in federal court in the Northern District of Illinois. The lawsuit argues that new conditions imposed by the Trump administration violate the law in the ways:
- Constitutional Separation of Powers – By imposing these new funding conditions, the Trump Administration is usurping the spending authority of Congress.
- Arbitrary and Capricious – The new conditions are unsupported by any reasoned explanation and are not tethered to the purpose of the grants.
The city is seeking an order to keep the Trump administration from imposing or enforcing the conditions in federal emergency grant funding and for the court to declare the conditions unlawful.
