Attorney General Bonta Sues Trump Administration to Block Unlawful Freeze of $10 Billion in Child Care and Family Assistance Funding

Funding freeze by HHS was imposed immediately and exclusively on five Democratic-led states - California, New York, Colorado, Illinois, and Minnesota - and all five states are part of today's lawsuit

Lawsuit alleges that funding freeze is unlawful and unconstitutional, pushes back on extraordinarily broad request for documents

OAKLAND - California Attorney General Rob Bonta today announced a lawsuit against the Trump Administration for illegally freezing over $10 billion in federal funding for child care and family assistance programs. Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the lawsuit by Attorney General Bonta - alongside New York Attorney General Letitia James, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison - is in response to the funding freeze imposed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) earlier this week. According to HHS, the funding freeze was being imposed immediately and exclusively on the five Democratic-led states because of "serious concerns about widespread fraud and misuse of taxpayer dollars." HHS has not provided any evidence at all to support those claims. In addition, HHS is demanding that, within 14 days, the five states produce virtually all documents associated with the implementation of the three critical programs impacted by the funding freeze, as well as years of data - including personally identifiable information - concerning individuals who received benefits under those programs. In their lawsuit, the attorneys general allege that the funding freeze violates the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), the Separation of Powers, and the U.S. Constitution's Appropriations Clause and Spending Clause. They ask the court to block the funding freeze and the extraordinarily overbroad demands for documents and data. The attorneys general are also seeking a temporary restraining order in light of the irreparable harm that their states face.

"The American people are sick and tired of President Trump's lawlessness, lies, and misinformation campaigns. It is especially pathetic that, once again, his Administration's actions are inflicting harm on the most vulnerable among us. As a society, we are rightly judged by how we treat our neighbors in need, and this is a shameful way to treat them," said Attorney General Bonta. "With each passing day, his 'America First' rhetoric is exposed as nothing more than smoke and mirrors. If he thinks that his attacks on Democratic-led states will cause us to bend to his will, he is sorely mistaken. For the 53rd time, the Trump Administration has broken the law, and for the 53rd time, I'm taking them to court."

HHS's funding freeze impacts the following programs, which benefit millions of Californians including children, families, the elderly, and individuals with disabilities, and for which funds were appropriated by Congress: The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) program, and the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) program. Across the five targeted states, the $10 billion funding freeze includes $7.35 billion for the TANF program, $2.4 billion for the CCDF program, and $869 million for the SSBG program. Of the $10 billion, approximately $5 billion in funds are frozen in California alone.

The letters from HHS imposing the funding freeze provide no factual or legal basis for blocking access to these critical funds and target the five Democratic-led states based solely on unsupported and unfounded allegations of "fraud." The TANF program provides block grants to states, which in turn use the funds to offer cash aid and supportive services to families in need. The CCDF program is also distributed in block grants by the federal government. The funds are primarily used to provide low-income families with funding for child care, so that their parents can work or go to school. The SSBG program supports social services, such as Child Welfare Services, Foster Care, Deaf Access, and CalWORKS, for low-income adults and children.

In the lawsuit, Attorney General Bonta and his colleagues allege that the funding freeze violates:

• (1) The APA. The attorneys general assert that the funding freeze exceeds statutory authority, is contrary to law, ultra vires, and arbitrary and capricious.
• (2) The Separation of Powers. The attorneys general assert that the funding freezeusurps Congress's legislative function and imposes new conditions on appropriated federal funds for which the states had no notice.
• (3) The U.S. Constitution's Appropriations Clause and Spending Clause. The attorneys general assert that the executive branch is infringing on Congress's appropriations powerby declining to expend appropriated funds.