Five Democratic-led states sue the Trump administration for freezing over $10 billion in childcare and family assistance funds, calling the move vindictive.
NEW YORK: Five Democratic-led US states have sued the Trump administration over its decision to freeze their access to more than $10 billion in federal childcare and family assistance funds.
California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York filed the lawsuit in federal court in Manhattan on Thursday.
The action challenges a move by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which on Tuesday restricted the states’ access to the funds pending further review.
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The frozen funds include $7.3 billion from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families programme.
It also includes nearly $2.4 billion from the Child Care and Development Fund, which helps make childcare more affordable for low-income working families.
HHS additionally froze the five states’ access to $869 million in social services grant funding.
All three programmes are overseen by the Administration for Children and Families, an agency within HHS.
In announcing the freeze, the agency cited concerns about “widespread fraud and misuse of taxpayer dollars” in those states’ welfare programmes.
It also raised the possibility that individuals other than US citizens and lawful permanent residents were illegally receiving benefits.
The agency’s action appeared to build on its decision a week earlier to freeze $185 million in annual childcare funds to Minnesota.
That earlier freeze followed allegations of widespread fraud in the state’s social services programmes.
On Monday, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz announced he will not seek a third term in office to focus on the fraud scandal.
The affected states’ Democratic leaders have blasted this week’s funding freeze.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul called the move “vindictive”, while Illinois Governor JB Pritzker labelled it “wrong and cruel.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James said she “will not allow this administration to play political games with the resources families need to help make ends meet.”
The lawsuit alleges the agency lacked a legitimate justification for the funding freeze.
It also claims HHS failed to provide evidence to support its fraud concerns and infringed on Congress’s spending power. – Reuters
