Sponsor
Jamie Ben Raskin
Representative · D-MD
Representative · D-MD
The bill expands district-court access for grant recipients and reduces procedural hurdles to challenge grant terminations, at the cost of greater litigation exposure, taxpayer expense, and possible administrative disruption or inconsistent legal outcomes.
Nonprofits, state and local governments (grant recipients) can file suit in federal district court to seek vacation of agency grant terminations that are already reviewable under the APA, increasing their ability to obtain timely judicial relief and potentially restore funding.
Government contractors and grant recipients may get disputes resolved more quickly at the district-court level instead of through specialized petitions, reducing delays in restoring grant funding and program continuity.
Clarifying that district courts have jurisdiction reduces procedural uncertainty and venue/standing disputes, lowering litigation costs for agencies and recipients.
Taxpayers could face higher litigation costs and potential payouts if more district-court challenges succeed in vacating grant terminations, increasing federal expenditures tied to grant disputes.
Federal agencies may experience increased litigation and administrative burden defending termination decisions, diverting staff time and resources away from program operations and service delivery.
Allowing parallel or alternative district-court challenges raises the risk of inconsistent rulings about the same agency action, creating legal uncertainty for recipients and agencies.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Permits district-court lawsuits against the U.S. to seek vacatur of federal grant terminations that arise from agency actions reviewable under the APA.
Official title: To amend title 28, United States Code, to provide for original and concurrent jurisdiction for the district courts over certain civil actions.
Introduced May 21, 2026 by Jamie Ben Raskin · Last progress May 21, 2026
Creates an explicit cause of action in U.S. district courts for parties seeking to undo a federal agency’s termination of a grant when that termination arises from an agency action already subject to judicial review under the Administrative Procedure Act. In practice, grant recipients challenging terminations tied to reviewable agency actions would be able to bring suit in district court (original and concurrent jurisdiction) against the United States to seek vacation of the termination.