In 2025, Kris Kobach refused to join Kansas Governor Kelly in suing the Trump administration over its devastating DOGE cuts to critical grants. Kobach even asked a federal court to remove Governor Kelly from the multi-state lawsuit challenging Trump’s refusal to provide grant funding to states, even though the lawsuit highlighted the harms of the cuts on states’ abilities to provide services.
Kobach refused to defend Kansas from DOGE cuts even as DOGE cut critical grants that were intended for Kansas to address broadband, food access, flood prevention and mitigation, lead testing, and more. DOGE also targeted the livelihoods of more than 11,000 federal workers in Kansas and reduced Kansas’ federal workforce by 15 percent.
August 2025: Kobach Asked A Federal Court To Remove Kansas Governor Kelly From A Multi-State Lawsuit Challenging Trump’s Refusal To Provide Grant Funding To States After DOGE Terminated Billions Of Dollars In Federal Funding. According to the Kansas Reflector, “Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach on Thursday asked a federal court to remove Gov. Laura Kelly from a multi-state lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s refusal to release grant money to states. Kelly joined 22 states and the District of Columbia in the lawsuit last month. Kobach, a Republican, said the Democratic governor doesn’t have the authority under Kansas law to represent the state in federal litigation. ‘The governor is purporting to represent the state of Kansas and claiming that Kansas demands and wants the federal government to continue spending this money that these federal agencies have deemed to be unnecessary and wasteful,’ Kobach told legislative leaders at a meeting Thursday at the Statehouse. The states sued the Office of Management and Budget over decisions by President Donald Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, to terminate billions of dollars in federal funding that had been allocated by Congress. The lawsuit argues those cuts have had a devastating impact on state efforts to combat violent crime, educate students, safeguard public health, protect clean drinking water, conduct medical and scientific research, provide meals for students in school, and ensure access to unemployment benefits.” [Kansas Reflector, 8/14/25]
2025: Kobach Declined Governor Kelly’s Request To Join The Lawsuit, Citing The Trump Administration’s Claim That Federal Regulations Allowed Agencies To Terminate Federal Grants If It No Longer Aligned With Agency Priorities And Claiming States Did Not Have The Authority To “Compel The Federal Agency To Spend The Money.” According to the Kansas Reflector, “Kobach said Kelly did ask him to join the lawsuit and that he declined because he believes it is destined to fail. He pointed to the Trump administration’s insistence that a federal regulation allows agencies to terminate a grant if it no longer effectuates agency priorities. ‘We don’t believe that any state has the ability to compel the federal agency to spend the money, and so, purely on legal grounds, we rejected the governor’s request,’ Kobach said. He said the states could get a favorable ruling at the district court level in Massachusetts, where the case was filed, but that their legal claims ‘are not winners.’ ‘We’ve all heard in the news there are district judges on every position on the political spectrum, and judicial, ideological, jurisprudential spectrum,’ Kobach said. ‘When this case goes up on appeal, the states seeking the grants are going to lose.’” [Kansas Reflector, 8/14/25]
The Multi-State Lawsuit Argued The DOGE Cuts Would Impact Efforts To “Combat Violent Crime, Educate Students, Safeguard Public Health, Protect Clean Drinking Water, Conduct Medical And Scientific Research, Provide Meals For Students In School, And Ensure Access To Unemployment Benefits.” According to the Kansas Reflector, “Kelly joined 22 states and the District of Columbia in the lawsuit last month. […] The states sued the Office of Management and Budget over decisions by President Donald Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, to terminate billions of dollars in federal funding that had been allocated by Congress. The lawsuit argues those cuts have had a devastating impact on state efforts to combat violent crime, educate students, safeguard public health, protect clean drinking water, conduct medical and scientific research, provide meals for students in school, and ensure access to unemployment benefits.” [Kansas Reflector, 8/14/25]
2025: DOGE Cancelled An $8.1 Million Grant For Kansas’ Rural Broadband That Was Meant To “Improve Digital Skills, Expand Access To Devices And Affordable Broadband, Enhance Civic Engagement, [And] Promote Economic Growth.” According to Capital & Main, "Last month, DOGE cancelled an $8.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce that Kansas intended to use for rural broadband, among other efforts. Similar federal grants to other states were also cancelled, reports the Topeka Capital-Journal: Pat Lowry, a spokesperson for the Kansas Department of Commerce, confirmed the grant cancellation. ‘On May 9, 2025, the Kansas Office of Broadband Development received a termination notice from the Trump administration for the Digital Equity Capacity grant program, representing a total loss of $8.1 million,’ Lowry said in a statement to The Capital-Journal. ‘The Digital Equity Capacity program was originally designed to support efforts that improve digital skills, expand access to devices and affordable broadband, enhance civic engagement, promote economic growth." [Capital & Main, 6/17/25]
2025: DOGE Terminated A $2.6 Million Grant For The Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program, Which Purchased Kansas-Grown Food For Underserved Families In Food Banks. According to the Topeka Capital-Journal, "What DOGE cuts in Kansas are cited in lawsuit? The lawsuit cites several Kansas grants terminated by DOGE because the funding 'no longer effectuates the program goals or agency priorities.' 'It makes no sense to claim that protecting Kansans from natural disasters or supporting Kansas farm products no longer supports the priorities of FEMA or the USDA,' Kelly said in a statement. 'I joined this lawsuit on behalf of Kansas to ensure funds going towards critical programs our state depends on are not ripped away by the Trump Administration - or any presidential administration - on a whim.' The lawsuit cites a $2.6 million grant to the Kansas Department of Agriculture from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service. The funding was for the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program, which the lawsuit claims 'effectuated the priorities identified by Congress.' It had been used to help food banks in Topeka and elsewhere buy locally grown fresh produce. 'This program purchases and distributes Kansas grown and processed foods to underserved communities and families across Kansas,' the lawsuit states. 'Kansas food banks use these funds to purchase fresh, local foods directly from famers and producers and then distribute the food through their networks. This program will not continue in Kansas without additional federal funding." [Topeka Capital-Journal, 8/4/25]
2025: DOGE Cancelled A $27.8 Million Grant For Public Water Systems, A $4.3 Million Grant For Flood Prevention And Mitigation, A $284,000 Grant For Lead Testing At Schools And Childcare Facilities, And A $243,000 Grant For Dam Safety. According to the Topeka Capital-Journal, "In Kansas, it cites the following: A $1.9 million award from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at the Department of Defense to KDHE to facilitate environmental remediation at military bases and former properties. A $2.8 million grant by the U.S. Department of the Interior to KDHE for reclamation of abandoned coal mines. A $284,000 grant from the EPA for a lead testing program at schools and child care facilities A $6 million KDHE grant from the DOJ to help drug endangered children. Grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to the Kansas Department of Agriculture, with $243,000 for dam safety and $4.3 million for flood prevention and mitigation. A $27.8 million grant by the EPA for public water systems." [Topeka Capital-Journal, 8/4/25]
2025: DOGE Terminated A $1 Million Grant To The Kansas Department Of Health And Environment That Sought To Address Food Equity And Environmental Sustainability In Southeast Kansas. According to the Topeka Capital-Journal, "What DOGE cuts in Kansas are cited in lawsuit? The lawsuit cites several Kansas grants terminated by DOGE because the funding 'no longer effectuates the program goals or agency priorities.' [...] The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also cited that clause when it terminated a $1 million award to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment for food equity and environmental sustainability in southeast Kansas." [Topeka Capital-Journal, 8/4/25]
2025: DOGE Cancelled Several Grants To The Kansas Department Of Health And Environment, Including A $1.9 Million Grant For Environmental Remediation At Military Bases And Former Properties, A $2.8 Million Grant For Reclamation Of Abandoned Coal Mines, And A $6 Million Grant To Support Drug Endangered Children. According to the Topeka Capital-Journal, "In Kansas, it cites the following: A $1.9 million award from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at the Department of Defense to KDHE to facilitate environmental remediation at military bases and former properties. A $2.8 million grant by the U.S. Department of the Interior to KDHE for reclamation of abandoned coal mines. A $284,000 grant from the EPA for a lead testing program at schools and child care facilities A $6 million KDHE grant from the DOJ to help drug endangered children. Grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to the Kansas Department of Agriculture, with $243,000 for dam safety and $4.3 million for flood prevention and mitigation. A $27.8 million grant by the EPA for public water systems." [Topeka Capital-Journal, 8/4/25]
2025: Trump’s DOGE Targeted 11,287 Federal Workers In Kansas And Reduced Kansas’ Federal Workforce By 15 Percent. According to KCUR, "When DOGE got to work on Jan. 20, 2025 – Inauguration Day – Missouri’s federal workforce amounted to 29,925 and Kansas’ numbered 11,287. Between Day One of the Trump administration and November 2025, the DOGE cuts reduced Missouri’s federal workforce by 13% and Kansas’ by 15%. Data from the Bureau of Labor shows the Kansas City metro lost about 2,800 federal jobs, or about 10% of the area’s federal workforce." [KCUR, 1/21/26]