Five Democratic-controlled states are asking a judge Friday to order President Donald Trump’s administration to keep money for child care subsidies and other programs aimed at supporting low-income families with children.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said it was suspending funding because it had “reason to believe” states were providing benefits to people in the country illegally, though it did not provide evidence or explain why it targeted those states and not others.
States say the move was instead intended to harm Trump’s political opponents.
ON the judge previously gave states will delay the administration’s plan to halt funding to states unless they provide information about beneficiaries of some programs, including names and Social Security numbers. The temporary restraining order expires on Friday.
The request now being considered is to maintain funding for the programs while the legal challenge to the administration’s plan moves forward.
These are the states of California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York. Around the same time as the actions targeting the five states, the administrations stepped in obstacles to Minnesota for even more federal dollars. It also began asking all states to explain how they use child care program money.
The programs are designed to help low-income families
The programs are the Child Care and Development Fund, which subsidizes the care of 1.3 million children from low-income families nationwide; the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which provides financial assistance and job training; and the Social Services Block Grant, a smaller fund that provides money for various programs. States say they receive a total of more than $10 billion a year from these programs — and that the programs are essential for low-income and at-risk families.
The US Department of Health and Human Services sent letters to states on Jan. 5 and 6 telling them they would have “limited drawdowns” of program money until states provide more information.
For TANF and the Social Services Block Grant, it required states to submit data, including recipients’ personal information, beginning in 2022 with a Jan. 20 deadline.
States call the action “illegal many times”
In court documents last week, the states said what they describe as a funding freeze is not in accordance with the law.
They say Congress created laws about how the administration can identify noncompliance or fraud by recipients of the money — and that the federal government has failed to use that process.
They also say it is inappropriate to freeze funding across the board because of potential fraud and that producing the data the government has requested is “an impossible request in an impossible time frame.”
The administration says it’s not a freeze
In a court filing this week, the administration objected to states describing the action as a “funding freeze,” even though the headline in the Department of Health and Human Services announcement read, “HHS Freezes Child Care and Family Assistance Grants in Five States Over Fraud Concerns.”
Federal government lawyers said the states could get the money if they provide the requested information and the federal government finds they are in compliance with anti-fraud measures.
The administration also notes that it continues to provide funding to states without pointing out that it has been ordered to do so by a court.
Leave a Reply