The federal government finally reimburses cities for funds used to help detect and prevent terrorism and nuclear attacks while lawsuit continues
SAN FRANCISCO (July 2, 2025) — San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu announced today that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released long-delayed counterterrorism funds after the City and County of San Francisco joined a lawsuit challenging DHS’s unlawful freeze of Securing the Cities counterterrorism grant funding. San Francisco receives over $1 million annually from the Securing the Cities program to enhance the San Francisco Bay Area’s ability to detect and prevent terrorist and nuclear attacks.
The City of Chicago filed the lawsuit against DHS on May 16, 2025. San Francisco, Boston, Denver and Seattle joined the lawsuit in an amended complaint on June 16. A few days after the Trump Administration launched strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities on June 21, DHS finally reimbursed Plaintiff jurisdictions on June 26. The lawsuit will still proceed as DHS continues to enforce a freeze on the purchase of detection equipment in violation of the law.
“I appreciate we were finally reimbursed for funds that will help prevent terrorist and nuclear attacks, but it shouldn’t take a lawsuit for the federal administration to follow the law,” said City Attorney Chiu. “This counterterrorism funding should never have been frozen in the first place. Keeping our communities safe is our City’s top priority, and it should be the top priority of the Trump Administration as well.”
“The Securing the Cities grant funding is essential to ensuring that our first responders are properly trained and equipped to address radiological or nuclear threats,” said Mary Ellen Carroll, Executive Director of the Department of Emergency Management. “It is critical that this funding remain continuously available so we can safeguard the millions of residents in our region and maintain a constant state of readiness.”
“The Securing the Cities grant has been instrumental in enhancing radiological threat detection and response capabilities throughout the Bay Area, with reach extending into Sacramento, Fresno, and Washoe Counties,” said Mikyung Kim-Molina, Interim General Manager of the Bay Area Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI). “Continued federal funding is essential to ensure that our responders remain prepared, properly equipped, and ready to protect the communities they serve.”
Background
In 2018, Congress passed, and President Trump signed, the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Act. That law required DHS to establish the Securing the Cities counterterrorism program to enhance the nation’s ability to detect and prevent terrorist attacks and other high-consequence events involving radiological or nuclear materials. DHS provides Securing the Cities grants to local jurisdictions, and the funding is used for detection equipment, training, exercise support, operational and technical subject matter expertise, and programmatic support.
In 2020, San Francisco entered an agreement with multiple jurisdictions in Northern California and Nevada to establish the Securing the Cities San Francisco Bay Area (STC SFBA) Program, which is managed and overseen by the Bay Area UASI. The Bay Area UASI’s Management Team is a division of the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management and performs the administrative duties for the STC SFBA, ensuring local and regional radiological and nuclear detection programs are coordinated.
The STC SFBA is comprised of 17 counties and cities including the City and County of San Francisco, Alameda County, Contra Costa County, Fresno County, Napa County, Marin County, Monterey County, City of Oakland, Sacramento County, San Benito County, City of San José, San Mateo County, Santa Clara County, Santa Cruz County, Solano County, Sonoma County, and Washoe County in Nevada.
These jurisdictions represent some of the most culturally and geographically diverse areas in the nation and are home to critical infrastructure, a concentration of large companies, light and heavy industry, and iconic landmarks and destinations. As such, DHS ranks the San Francisco Bay Area the fourth highest urban area in terms of risk, vulnerability, and consequence, behind New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
San Francisco, through the Bay Area UASI, acts as the fiscal agent for the STC SFBA Program and is the grantee for the Securing the Cities grant. STC SFBA was awarded $10,265,800 in Securing the Cities grant funding for the project period from March 2020 through October 2029. Each year, DHS provides an award notice letter, and STC SFBA was awarded $1.2 million for Fiscal Year 2024-2025.
In April 2025, San Francisco submitted a request to DHS for reimbursement of $412,083 for incurred expenses. In the past, DHS processed reimbursements within 1-2 days. On May 14, 2025, DHS notified San Francisco that “the STC program must pause . . . all radiological nuclear detection equipment and supplies purchases” due to “Federal funding constraints.”
After the City of Chicago filed a lawsuit against DHS on May 16, 2025, San Francisco and other cities joined the lawsuit in an amended complaint on June 16. The lawsuit alleges that the federal administration’s impoundment of the Congressionally approved Securing the Cities funds violates the U.S. Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act and could dramatically and negatively impact the San Francisco Bay Area’s ability to ensure the safety of the region.
Although DHS processed reimbursements for costs already incurred, it continues to enforce a freeze on the purchase of detection equipment in violation of the law. The loss of funding will decrease the region’s ability to prepare for the unintended or malicious release of radiological or nuclear materials. The San Francisco Bay Area regularly hosts major events of worldwide significance, including Super Bowl LX and the FIFA World Cup games in 2026. These events require extensive planning and preparation for catastrophic events, including radiological and nuclear events.
The case is City of Chicago, et al. v. United States Department of Homeland Security, et al., U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Case No. 1:25-cv-05462.
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