A federal judge Friday evening temporarily blocked the Trump administration from freezing federal money for child care and other social services in five states.
The Department of Health and Human Services announced Tuesday that is withholding funds for programs in California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York because of concerns about alleged fraud. Programs affected were the Child Care and Development Fund, which had nearly $2.4 billion frozen; Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), with $7.35 billion; and the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG), with $869 million.
Attorneys general in these states promptly filed lawsuits against the federal government in the U.S. Southern District Court of New York.
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“The importance of these programs cannot be overstated — they provide cash assistance and fund services to help low-income and vulnerable families,” the lawsuit said. “Without these programs, there will be immediate and devastating impacts in Plaintiff States.”
In the lawsuit, the states argued that the claims of fraud are just a “pretext.”
“Their transparent motivation is to punish “Democrat-led” states who are disfavored by the Administration,” the lawsuit said.
Meanwhile, HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill said in a Tuesday statement that “families who rely on child care and family assistance programs deserve confidence that these resources are used lawfully and for their intended purpose.”
Freezing the funds “reflects our commitment to program integrity, fiscal responsibility, and compliance with federal requirements,” he said.
Jessica Ranucci, a lawyer in the New York Attorney General’s office, said in the Friday hearing, which was reported on by The Associated Press, that at least four states already saw money be delayed after they requested it. If these states don’t get the money, she said, there will be immediate uncertainty for providers and families who need these programs.
An attorney for the federal government, Kamika Shaw, said it was her understanding that the money had not been restricted from the states, according to the AP.
In a temporary restraining order issued by U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, the federal government was directed to “immediately remove any restrictions, outside of permitted statutory authority, on plaintiffs’ ability to draw down funds under the Child Care Development Fund, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, and Social Services Block Grants programs.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James said after the ruling that she’ll “keep fighting to protect New York from losing funding and essential services.”
“I’m pleased with the court’s decision, which protects critical funding to support families and help working parents access child care,” Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in a statement. “There is no justification for this attempted funding freeze. It is a cruel and illegal attempt by the Trump administration to play politics with the lives of children and low-income families.”
O’Neill said in his own statement that HHS “will comply with the court, but we will fight.”
“We will appeal,” he said. “We will keep asking questions.”
Purported fraud in social service programs became a focus for the federal government after a conservative YouTube creator made a video which he said exposed massive swindling by government-subsidized day care centers. Directors of those centers pushed back on these claims, arguing that they were politically motivated because the day cares are owned by Somali-Americans. In addition, problems in Minnesota’s social service programs have been public knowledge for more than a decade and have been the subject of extensive local and national news coverage.
