Democratic attorneys general from New York, Minnesota, Colorado, California and Illinois say the Trump administration violated the Constitution when it froze state welfare funds, a move they say was vindictive and unjustified.
The five states filed a lawsuit on Thursday asking the courts to reverse a $10 billion funding freeze announced earlier this week.
“This unlawful funding freeze is about one thing: punishing Democratic states that oppose the president,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a joint press conference with the other attorneys general on Friday.
Between Monday and Tuesday, the states received letters from a Department of Health and Human Services official saying the administration would pause money for three different programs: the Child Care and Development Fund, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program and the Social Services Block Grant. These programs support parents who need child care services, domestic abuse survivors, senior citizens, people with disabilities and more.
The letters from Administration for Children and Families Assistant Secretary Alex Adams said federal officials were concerned about “the potential for extensive and systemic fraud” and believed the states are “illicitly providing illegal aliens with TANF benefits intended for American citizens and lawful permanent residents.” The letters do not provide proof for any of these claims.
The Trump administration asked the five states to turn over “the complete universe” of documents relating to ACF funding by Jan. 20, a task that the plaintiffs find both impossible within the time constraint and indicative of the administration’s lack of proof.
“They’ve come to the conclusion first and looked at the documents second,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said at the press conference on Friday.
The state attorneys general’s suit says the administration violated Article I of the Constitution by freezing congressionally appropriated funds without its support.
The attorneys general said that under more typical circumstances, states work with federal agencies and inspectors general to solve issues of fraud rather than cutting funding from the programs as a whole.
“If the president was serious about rooting out fraud, his administration would be investing more resources in partnering with states and supporting states’ efforts to root out fraud and abuse,” said Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul.
The end of funding, Raoul said, is “fairly imminent,” though he could not provide a specific date as to when funding will freeze.
More than 70 Democratic lawmakers from the five states affected by the freeze echoed similar beliefs that the funding cuts are unjust in a letter to HHS on Friday.
The HHS funding freeze comes after the Trump administration ramped up its criticism of how Minnesota officials handled social services fraud allegations. But attorneys general from New York, Colorado, California and Illinois said the Trump administration has provided no proof of fraud in their states.
Mississippi, where a former professional wrestler is on trial for his alleged role in a $77 million welfare fraud case, was not included in this week’s funding freeze.
The ACF did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NOTUS about whether the administration has the power to freeze funding or if they had proof of fraud from California, Illinois, Colorado or New York.
Don’t miss the stories shaping Washington.
Sign in
Log into your free account with your email. Don’t have one?
Check your email for a one-time code.
We sent a 4-digit code to . Enter the pin to confirm your account.
New code will be available in 1:00
Let’s try this again.
We encountered an error with the passcode sent to . Please reenter your email.