AG Kaul and Coalition Announce Trump Administrations Decision to Drop Appeal of Court Order Blocking Illegal Conditioning of Transportation Grant Funding

MADISON, Wis. – Attorney General Josh Kaul is issuing the following statement after the U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion to dismiss its appeal of the final judgment blocking the Trump administration’s effort to unlawfully impose immigration enforcement requirements on billions of dollars in annual U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) grants. With no appeal challenging the lower court’s ruling, the injunction in favor of Wisconsin and the 21 other states is permanent.

“I’m glad that the Trump administration is seeking to put an end to its defense of this lawlessness,” said AG Kaul. “It’s too bad that it took legal action to get the administration to simply comply with the law.”

Wisconsin receives approximately $1 billion in annual grant funding from DOT to build and maintain travel infrastructure like the roads, highways, airways, and bridges that connect communities and carry their residents to their workplaces and homes. This includes funding to prevent fatal traffic crashes; funding to provide transit for seniors and those with disabilities; and funding that protects and restores roads after environmental disasters like fires or flooding. Neither the purpose of these grants, nor their grant criteria, are in any way connected to immigration enforcement.

On November 4, 2025, the district court issued final judgment in favor of Wisconsin and the states that challenged this unlawful conduct, issuing an order permanently enjoining the Trump administration from unlawfully imposing the conditions and vacating the conditions across all DOT grants. In issuing its decision, the Court found that the Trump administration has “blatantly overstepped their statutory authority, violated the APA, and transgressed well-settled constitutional limitations on federal funding conditions. The Constitutions demands the Court set aside this lawless behavior.”

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.