House Democrat Says Trump Administration Is Intentionally Withholding World Cup Money

The congresswoman who represents the New Jersey district hosting the World Cup final said the Department of Homeland Security is “100%” withholding hundreds of millions of dollars in security funding for political reasons.

Host cities are awaiting $625 million worth of federal funding earmarked for World Cup security in President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act last summer, and an additional $250 million set aside in December for policing drones at the tournament and America250 events. DHS anticipated it would send out the grants by Jan. 30, but cities are still waiting, causing major issues for hosts across the country.

The Trump Administration claims it cannot send the money amid an impasse with Senate Democrats over funding DHS, which has been partially shut down since Feb. 14. 

“I don’t have any doubt that they are using that for political reasons,” Rep. Nellie Pou (D., N.J.), a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, told Front Office Sports in an interview Tuesday.

All non-emergency activity has paused at FEMA, the subsidiary of DHS that typically focuses on disaster relief but is also responsible for the World Cup grants. Senate Democrats have refused to approve DHS funding unless President Donald Trump’s administration commits to a series of reforms on immigration enforcement. Republicans have attempted to use the U.S. attack on Iran to pressure Democrats to fund the department. 

New Jersey is hosting eight matches, including the final. Several major tournament contenders including Brazil, England, France, Germany, and Morocco will play at MetLife Stadium, which will be known as “New York New Jersey Stadium” during the tournament.

Pou said she believes that the funds could still be sent out during the partial shutdown.

“Secretary [Kristi] Noem is saying she isn’t releasing them because of funding impasse,” Pou said. “That is absolutely not true.”

Pou said local governments need the money soon for stadium security, staffing, crowd control, emergency response, and ordering equipment. “We need to ensure that they have ample time to do that,” she said.

DHS did not immediately respond Wednesday when asked to comment on Pou’s remarks.

Last week, Sec. Noem gave a statement blaming the “Democrat shutdown” for affecting her department’s “ability to keep Americans safe at these events.”

“FEMA was in the final stages of reviewing applications to ensure proper oversight when Democrats shut down the government putting significant portions of the FEMA staff on administrative leave,” Noem said. “No funds have been awarded yet under the FIFA World Cup Grant Program. The longer DHS goes without funding, the less prepared our nation will be for threats at the FIFA World Cup and America 250.”

Pou quickly responded to Noem by highlighting DHS’s initial anticipated deadline of Jan. 30 for sending out the grants. “It’s time for DHS to do its job,” she posted.

Additional federal funding is coming from the Department of Transportation—slightly more than $100 million for public transit in the host cities.

Funding Issues Across Host Cities

Miami host committee COO Raymond Martinez told the House Homeland Security Committee last week why South Florida needs its $70 million grant soon.

“We are 107 days out from the tournament, but more importantly we are about 70-something days out from starting to build the fan fest,” Martinez said. “These decisions have to be made, generously, I say within the next 30 days is the drop-dead date. I know that the local agencies are very anxious. But without receiving this money, it could be catastrophic for our planning and coordination.”

Kansas City deputy police chief Joseph Mabin said at the hearing that the funding is “critical” to hire enough staff for the tournament, while Pou said “we’re running out of time.”

Nowhere is funding a bigger issue than in New England, where leaders in the small town of Foxborough, Mass., are threatening to withhold the entertainment license FIFA needs to stage matches at Gillette Stadium. The town doesn’t want to pay roughly $8 million in security costs at the stadium because it says it did not sign the agreement to bring the World Cup to Boston.

At a town meeting Tuesday night, lawyers representing Boston’s World Cup host committee said the stalled federal funding would cover the town’s security costs, and if that didn’t come through, then the committee backed by Kraft Sports and Entertainment would make up the shortfall.

But town leaders were still unhappy with the committee’s timeline. Members of Foxborough’s Select Board accused Boston 26 of trying to “nickel and dime” their police and fire chief, and said it’s “hard to believe” the committee still doesn’t know “exactly what we want.”

“This board does not want to deny this license by any means, O.K., but we will if we have to,” said vice chair Stephanie McGowan.