A federal judge ruled Friday that President Trump's administration can't block federal money for child care subsidies and other programs aimed at supporting low-income families with children from flowing to five Democratic-led states, at least for now. California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York argued that a policy announced Tuesday to freeze billions of dollars in funds for three grant programs is having an immediate impact on them and creating "operational chaos," per the AP. In court filings and a hearing Friday, the states contended that the government didn't have a legal reason for holding back the money.
The 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 didn't provide evidence or explain why it was targeting those states and not others. US District Judge Arun Subramanian, who was nominated to the bench by President Biden, didn't rule on the legality of the funding freeze but said the five states met a legal threshold "to protect the status quo" for at least 14 days while arguments are made in court. Health department officials didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The affected 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. New York Attorney General Letitia James, who's leading the lawsuit, called the ruling a "critical victory for families whose lives have been upended by this administration's cruelty."
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. A lawyer in James' office said during the Friday hearing that at least four of the states had already had money delayed after requesting it. She said if the states can't get child care funds, there will be immediate uncertainty for providers and families who rely on the programs.
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