Nashville and Other Jurisdictions Sue DHS Over Anti-Terrorism Grant Eligibility
Nashville, along with Columbus, Ohio, and two Texas counties, has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The lawsuit challenges new eligibility requirements for anti-terrorism grants, which link funding to election security measures, including the use of…
Nashville, TN, August 17, 2026 —
Nashville, Tennessee, has joined forces with Columbus, Ohio, and two counties in Texas to file a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The legal challenge targets new eligibility requirements for federal anti-terrorism grants.
At the heart of the dispute are conditions recently imposed on these grants that tie funding to the implementation of election security measures. Specifically, the requirements mandate the use of the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system as a prerequisite for receiving the grants.
The plaintiffs, which include Nashville and the other named jurisdictions, contend that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), an agency within DHS, does not possess the legal authority to impose such conditions on state and local election administration. They argue that these stipulations go beyond the intended scope of anti-terrorism funding and infringe upon the authority of states and localities to manage their own election processes.
The lawsuit seeks to overturn these new eligibility criteria, asserting that FEMA is overstepping its regulatory bounds by linking homeland security grant funding to specific election security protocols. The specific details of the legal arguments and the potential impact on future grant allocations are expected to unfold as the case progresses through the court system. The exact timeline for the lawsuit and any potential court rulings have not yet been determined.
Story summarized from the original created by Cynthia Abrams on wpln.org, see more information here.
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