LOWER MANHATTAN — A federal judge ruled Friday that President Donald Trump’s administration cannot block federal money for child care subsidies and other programs aimed at supporting needy children and their families from flowing to five Democratic-led states for now.
The states of California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York argued that a policy announced Tuesday to freeze funds for three grant programs is having an immediate impact on them and creating “operational chaos.” In court filings and a hearing earlier Friday, the states contended that the government did not have a legal reason for holding back the money from those states.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said it was pausing the funding because it had “reason to believe” the states were granting benefits to people in the country illegally, though it did not provide evidence or explain why it was targeting those states and not others.
The programs are the Child Care and Development Fund, which subsidizes child care for children from low-income families; the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which provides cash assistance and job training; and the Social Services Block Grant, a smaller fund that provides money for a variety of programs.
The five states say they receive a total of more than $10 billion a year from the programs.
The ruling from U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, who was nominated to the bench by former President Joe Biden, is in place until further arguments are made in court.
The government had requested reams of data from the five states, including the names and Social Security numbers of everyone who received benefits from some of the programs since 2022.
The states argue that the effort is unconstitutional and is intended to go after Trump’s political adversaries rather than to stamp out fraud in government programs – something the states say they already do.
Jessica Ranucci, a lawyer in the New York Attorney General’s office, said in the Friday hearing, which was conducted by telephone, that at least four of the states had already had money delayed after requesting it. She said that if the states can’t get child care funds, there will be immediate uncertainty for providers and families who rely on the programs.
A lawyer for the federal government, Kamika Shaw, said it was her understanding that the money had not stopped flowing to states.
On Friday, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a lawsuit against the Trump administration after it froze $10 billion in child care funding in five democratic states.
The states of Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and California are also listed in the lawsuit.
“We will fight back against this lawless action with every possible tool available to us,” James said.
James held a teleconference Friday with attorneys general from Colorado, California, Illinois and Minnesota. All five states filed a federal lawsuit Friday to stop the cuts, claiming they are punitive, vindictive and unconstitutional.
“This is about nothing more than a president seeking to punish Democratic-led states that have taken a stand against his bluster, his bullying, and his blatant and brazen lawlessness,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
In New York alone, $2.4 billion in cash assistance to 200,000 needy families to cover housing, food and other essentials, $638 million for child care for low-income families and $93 million to support foster care, and critical social services assistance for children and vulnerable adults.
Health and Human Services general counsel Mike Stuart posted on social media:
“HHS stands by its decision to take this action to defend American taxpayers. We identified serious concerns in these states that warranted immediate review and action.”
But the attorneys general adamantly dispute that.
“You need to have facts. You need to have evidence. You need to have data. And the Trump Administration has none of that,” Bonta said.
When asked Thursday, Gov. Kathy Hochul sounded exasperated, but confident.
“We’ve been successful in court before, it’s a shame that everything we do has to start with a call to my lawyer and say, ‘One more lawsuit that we have to file,’ but this is the world under Donald Trump,” Hochul said.
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