LOS ANGELES – City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto announced today that the City of Los Angeles has joined a coalition of cities, counties, and local agencies in a new lawsuit against Secretary Kristi Noem and the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”), seeking to protect federal funds for disaster relief and emergency assistance. The lawsuit, led by the County of Santa Clara and the City and County of San Francisco and joined by the City of Los Angeles and 26 other local governments and local agencies, challenges unconstitutional conditions that the Trump Administration has placed on Federal Emergency Management Agency (“FEMA”) and other DHS grants. Such grants are used for disaster and emergency response functions, including mitigating the risks of wildfires and earthquakes, strengthening public safety infrastructure, first responder training and funding urban search and rescue efforts.
Feldstein Soto is seeking to protect more than $56 million in DHS grant funds that the City of Los Angeles is expecting to receive in fiscal years 2025-2026. This money could be used to pay for: salaries, training, and supplies for the City’s Urban Search & Rescue task force; radiation and nuclear detection equipment; staffing costs for an additional twelve LAFD firefighters; the maintenance and repairs of four LAPD watercraft used to patrol the Port of Los Angeles; and other homeland security and emergency preparedness activities.
“The Trump administration’s unprecedented weaponization of federal emergency management grants is unconscionable and unconstitutional”, said Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto. “Congress appropriated these funds to keep millions of residents safe, and placing unlawful conditions on these funds puts millions of lives at risk. I am proud to be part of this coalition that is fighting to protect our respective residents and preserve constitutional limits on executive overreach.”
The Trump administration is threatening to withhold the funds unless local governments agree to utilize the funds to further the Administration’s unrelated domestic policy goals, including its immigration enforcement activities and anti-equity policies. Additionally, the new grant conditions require recipients to agree - in advance - to comply with the President’s executive orders, even if they are contrary to established law. The federal government’s conditions for receiving these funds violates the constitution and exceeds the federal government’s authority.
This new lawsuit follows two earlier lawsuits filed by the City, also as part of larger coalitions, to protect other funding. Those cases are King County v. Turner, which challenges unlawful conditions being attached to HUD, DOT, and HHS grant awards, and San Francisco v. Trump, which alleges that the President’s executive actions seeking to require the City to engage in immigration cooperation violates the Tenth Amendment, Separation of Powers, the Spending Clause and Due Process. Between the three cases, the City Attorney is seeking to protect more than $500 million in anticipated grant funding for the City in fiscal years 2025-2026.
Case No 3:25-cv-08330
U.S. District Court Northern District of California
Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief
County of Santa Clara; City and County of San Francisco; City of Alameda; City of Bellingham; City of Berkeley; City of Culver City; City of Los Angeles; County of Los Angeles; Los Angeles County Consolidated Fire Protection District; Martin Luther King, Jr. County; County of Marin; City of Oakland; City of Palo Alto; City of Pasadena; City of Petaluma; Pierce County; City of Sacramento; City of San Diego; County of San Diego; City of San José; County of San Mateo; City of Santa Monica; City of Santa Rosa; Snohomish County; County of Sonoma; Sonoma County Community Development Commission; Sonoma County Water Agency; Sonoma Valley County Sanitation District; and City of Tucson.
vs.
Kristi Noem, in her official capacity as Secretary of Homeland Security; United States Department of Homeland Security; David Richardson, in his official capacity as Senior official Performing the Duties of FEMA Administrator; and Federal Emergency Management Agency.
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Hydee Feldstein Soto is the 43rd Los Angeles City Attorney, elected in November 2022 and sworn into office in December 2022. Her team of nearly 1,000 legal professionals, including 500+ attorneys, carries out legal work for the City of Los Angeles at her direction and under her supervision. She is the first female City Attorney in L.A. history.