Federal District Judge Vernon Broderick has granted a preliminary injunction and stay to further block the Trump administration from withholding $10 billion from New York and California, Colorado, Illinois, and Minnesota. The states previously had won a temporary restraining order in their lawsuit to require the administration to restore Child Care Development Fund, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, and Social Services Block Grants funding.
The judge ordered that by Feb. 13 the Trump administration notify the court of what it has done to comply with his orders.
New York Attorney General Letitia James led the attorneys general from the four other states in the lawsuit.
“Every day, hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers rely on these funds to pay for necessities and provide their children a safe place to learn,” James said. “This illegal funding freeze would have caused severe chaos in the lives of some of the most vulnerable families in our state. I am proud to have secured another victory in this case to put a stop to it.”
Defendants in the lawsuit are Trump’s Administration for Children and Families, with Alex J.Adams in his official capacity as assistant secretary of that administration; and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in his official capacity as the department;s secretary.
“Once again, the most vulnerable families in our communities are bearing the brunt of this administration’s campaign of chaos and retribution,” James said. “After jeopardizing food assistance and health care, this administration is now threatening to cut off childcare and other critical programs that parents depend on to provide for their children. As New Yorkers struggle with the rising cost of living, I will not allow this administration to play political games with the resources families need to help make ends meet.”
Attorney General James and the other states assert that the administration has provided no legitimate justification for freezing these funds. While letters sent to states by the Trump administration claim that the freeze is necessary to prevent “potential” fraud, the administration has failed to provide any evidence of fraud existing or even being “potential.”
