The city of San Diego and around 70 other jurisdictions nationwide are suing a group of federal agencies and their representatives for allegedly withholding billions in federal grant funding unless the local governments agree to certain conditions that align with President Donald Trump's policies.
The lawsuit alleges that more than $12 billion in already-awarded funding will only be received if the plaintiffs agree to several newly imposed conditions that "appear to require federal grant recipients to agree to promote the political agenda President Trump campaigned on during his run for office and has continued espousing since, including opposition to all forms of DEI policies and initiatives, participation in aggressive and lawless immigration enforcement, exclusion of transgender people and cutting off access to lawful abortions."
The lawsuit filed in the Western District of Washington alleges such conditions are unconstitutional and "bear little or no connection to the purposes of the grant programs Congress established."
For San Diego's part, the city was awarded around $137 million in U.S. Department of Transportation grants and $225 million in U.S. Housing and Urban Development grants, which the city says will support affordable housing construction, infrastructure repair, homelessness services and other programs.
"In light of these politically motivated and unlawful funding conditions, it is imperative that we take action to protect the critical federal grants that support our community," San Diego City Attorney Heather Ferbert said in a statement. "These funds are essential to providing housing, maintaining infrastructure, and delivering services our residents rely on every day. We will fight to ensure San Diego continues to receive the resources it has earned and has been promised, without overreach from the federal government."
