Judge says Trump administration can’t block child care, other program money for 5 states for now

The table above shows the five states and their social safety net funding across various programs which is being withheld by the Trump administration over allegations of fraud. (AP Digital Embed)

A federal judge ruled Friday that U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration cannot block federal money for child care subsidies and other programs aimed at supporting needy children and their families from flowing to five Democratic-led states for now.

The states of California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York argued that a policy announced Tuesday to freeze funds for three grant programs is having an immediate impact on them and creating “operational chaos.” In court filings and a hearing Friday, the states contended that the government did not have a legal reason for holding back the money from those states.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said it was pausing the funding because it had “reason to believe” the states were granting benefits to people in the country illegally, though it did not provide evidence or explain why it was targeting those states and not others.

The programs are the Child Care and Development Fund, which subsidizes child care for children from low-income families; the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which provides cash assistance and job training; and the Social Services Block Grant, a smaller fund that provides money for a variety of programs.

The five states say they receive a total of more than US$10 billion a year from the programs.

The ruling from U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, who was nominated to the bench by former president Joe Biden, is in place until further arguments are made in court.

Geoff Mulvihill, The Associated Press