The city of Salem is accusing the Trump administration of leveraging federal disaster relief funds to coerce local leaders into rejecting programs that support diversity, equity and inclusion, according to a new lawsuit.  The federal government has made federal grants needed to provide Salem res idents with safe, clean drinking water after devastating flooding contingent on accepting an unrelated – and illegal – White House political agenda, the lawsuit argues. The White House’s terms mean Salem must “either agree to unlawful conditions or forgo funding critical to protecting people and property,” the complaint said.The filing argues that federal agencies are circumventing Congressional authority to push the Trump administration’s political agendas.The case, filed in Eugene U.S. District Court on Tuesday, June 30, names the Federal Emergency Management Agency and its acting administrator, Robert Fenton Jr., along with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and its secretary, Markwayne Mullin.Salem’s claims focus on requirements, and implied conditions, included in a contract city leaders must sign in order to receive over $1 million in allocated federal funding to replace culverts and a roadway leading to the West Salem Sanitary Sewer Pump Station.That station, which pumps wastewater from West Salem to a treatment facility, saw “catastrophic damage” from floods during a storm last December, according to the lawsuit. It said the culverts which carry wastewater from West Salem were filled with debris, and need to be entirely replaced before the next major storm. “Now, because of the unlawful grant conditions, Salem may need to pay for the project from local sources, impacting Salem’s other spending priorities,” the complaint said. Salem officials are asking a federal judge to rule the conditions unconstitutional and unlawful. The lawsuit also seeks a judicial order preventing future federal agreements with Salem from including such conditions.Spokespeople for the city of Salem did not address a question from Salem Reporter seeking clarification on whether the city intended to withhold its signature on the grant contract over its concerns. “The city is the sole plaintiff at this time; other jurisdictions would be able to join at a later date. As this is pending litigation, we are not able to comment further at this time,” the city statement said. READ IT: City of Salem’s lawsuit against FEMA, DHSIn the weeks following the storm, Gov. Tina Kotek declared a state of emergency and requested federal aid to repair widespread damage to Oregon infrastructure, including to Salem’s pump station. President Donald Trump approved the funds in April, set to be paid to the state through FEMA’s Public Assistance Grant Program.Salem also raised concerns with similar terms in guidelines for a separate FEMA grant program, which the city plans to apply for to replace the bridge providing the only access to the Geren Island Water Treatment Plant, located in Stayton, so it can survive a major flood. The city’s deadline to apply for that program is July 23. Last year, Oregon joined 19 other states in a lawsuit against FEMA, DHS and agency leaders after FEMA attempted to end that program in April 2025. A federal judge ruled in the states’ favor in March, requiring the program to continue.Before getting the money, Salem leaders must sign a federal grant agreement which includes terms and conditions set by DHS. Those conditions demand the city agree to Trump’s executive orders and reject initiatives promoting DEI or “gender ideology,” in order to receive funding.  The city said those conditions also leave local officials vulnerable to future requirements asking governments to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement, which is generally prohibited under Oregon law.Salem leaders claim the conditions are an illegal, politically motivated form of executive overreach intruding on Congressional powers. “By imposing conditions that Congress has not authorized and that even Congress could not constitutionally enact, DHS and FEMA have exceeded their lawful authority and encroached upon Congress’s power of the purse,” the lawsuit reads.A spokesperson for the FEMA region representing Oregon declined to comment on pending litigation.  DHS did not respond to Salem Reporter’s emailed request for comment.“(FEMA, DHS, Fenton and Mullin) now insist that recipients and subrecipients like Salem are not entitled to critical disaster relief and management funds unless they acquiesce to the administration’s domestic political agenda. There is no legal basis for DHS’s adoption of the challenged DHS conditions, nor is there any lawful basis for (them) to attach those conditions to Salem’s grants,” the lawsuit said.Salem’s lawsuit also raised concerns about the city’s potential to lose funding opportunities, or have promised funds canceled, for complying with state laws and longtime federal precedent.It called the imposed conditions “ambiguous,” and without a clear definition of DEI. The suit claims those conditions also ask the city to abide by future, unwritten executive orders which could make the city noncompliant with grant terms.Trump could use such tools to enact his political agenda on Salem, the lawsuit claims.  “In the first year of his current term, President Trump issued 230 executive orders, many of them purporting to leverage federal grants to achieve political ends, including termination of all DEI and (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility) initiatives, exclusion of transgender people and aggressive and lawless immigration enforcement,” the lawsuit said.As one example of Trump’s efforts to impose its political agenda on local officials, the lawsuit refers to the U.S. Department of Justice’s investigation into Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, that claimed he may have engaged in illegal discrimination by highlighting the number of Black people working in his administration while giving a speech at a local church.  In other cited cases, the federal government withheld funds to cities for transportation, healthcare and other public issues while investigating claims of DEI-based discrimination.The Trump administration’s prior actions, the lawsuit argues, suggest that any Salem program relating to historically marginalized groups could put the city at risk of losing money to repair Salem’s infrastructure after a natural disaster. “The executive branch’s insistence on unlawfully re-interpreting civil rights law makes it challenging for recipients to understand the conditions with which they are agreeing to comply. As a result, seemingly benign requirements, such as complying with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, are treacherous: Salem cannot take comfort in agreeing to abide by well-settled federal law,” the lawsuit said.The lawsuit also contends that if the administration continues its attempts to require local governments to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement, that could put the city at risk of conflicting with Oregon’s sanctuary law.The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development also previously drew concerns from Salem service providers for including similar terms as a condition of accepting over $4 million in funding for local homeless sheltering and support services. The department rescinded the guidelines for the time being in January after a federal court challenge.In the lawsuit, city leaders claim the White House’s conditions challenging DEI have little to do with grant programs intended to provide the community with safe drinking water. “If allowed to stand, these conditions would disrupt Salem’s budgeting and operations and undermine its ability to determine for itself how to meet its community’s needs. Salem therefore seeks an order declaring the challenged conditions unlawful, void and unenforceable, and enjoining their imposition and enforcement,” the lawsuit said.Reilly Norgren contributed reporting. This story was updated at 12:55 p.m. Thursday, July 2, to include comment from city of Salem officials. It was updated again Thursday afternoon to clarify the role of the West Salem Sanitary Sewer Pump Station in the wastewater treatment network.Contact reporter Abbey McDonald: [email protected] or 503-575-1251.SIGN UP: Subscribing to Salem Reporter helps sustain in-depth, local reporting that Salem depends on. Invest in your community’s news. Subscribe today. The post City of Salem sues FEMA, DHS, citing federal overreach in disaster relief funding appeared first on Salem Reporter. ...read more read less