Attorney General Phil Weiser sues to stop illegal sharing of private data of families receiving federal antipoverty benefits

Attorney General Phil Weiser sues to stop illegal sharing of private data of families receiving federal antipoverty benefits

Aug. 3, 2026 (DENVER) - Attorney General Phil Weiser today joined with a coalition of 23 other states and the District of Columbia in suing the Trump administration over unlawful policy changes that would give the administration broad access to the sensitive private information of millions of families receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits.

In June 2026, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) issued a notice claiming to dramatically expand its oversight of state TANF programs, including by allowing ACF to share detailed records on TANF recipients with other federal agencies like the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Under ACF's new policy, TANF recipients' Social Security numbers, addresses, immigration status, and other sensitive personal data would be illegally shared across the federal government and even potentially with private organizations.

Attorney General Weiser and the coalition argue that ACF's attempt to share millions of people's data and implement new monitoring of states' TANF programs violates the law and Constitution and is a blatant effort to politically target those who are lawfully receiving critical TANF benefits.

"Allowing TANF recipients' private data to be illegally shared across the federal government would erode the trust that states' programs have built with communities and deter legally qualified low-income families from seeking assistance. States will be forced to spend more of our own resources to ensure that families are housed and do not go hungry," said Attorney General Weiser. "When the administration earlier this year illegally withheld TANF funds from Colorado and four other states, we took action and secured a judicial ruling that blocked the freeze from going into effect. Now we're suing to stop this attempt to erode federal confidentiality protections and deploy baseless allegations of fraud to target antipoverty programs."

Congress created TANF as part of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. The law requires the federal government to provide block grants to states, territories, and tribal governments, which then have broad authority to use the funds for a variety of programs to aid low-income families with children. TANF funds support childcare subsidies, emergency housing for families fleeing domestic violence, emergency food assistance, support for grandparents caring for children, and other critical services. TANF currently provides over $16 billion every year to all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and several territories and tribal governments for these programs. As Attorney General Weiser and the coalition assert in their lawsuit, it is one of the largest sources of direct assistance to low-income families and a crucial part of states' efforts to fight poverty.

The law enacting TANF specifically requires states, not the federal government, to be responsible for verifying TANF applicants' eligibility for benefits. Yet ACF now claims the agency has broad authority to oversee states' TANF programs and share recipients' private data with other federal agencies to double check their immigration status. Attorney General Weiser and the coalition argue that this policy would cause significant harm to the vulnerable communities that rely on TANF funds.

Attorney General Weiser and the coalition argue that ACF's new policy violates the Administrative Procedure Act and the Spending Clause of the U.S. Constitution by ignoring restrictions on data sharing in TANF programs and enacting arbitrary new conditions on federal funding. The lawsuit seeks a court order declaring ACF's policy illegal and preventing it from being implemented.

Joining Attorney General Weiser in filing this lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia, as well as the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania.

Read a copy of the complaint (PDF).

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