Judge blocks Trump officials from freezing billions in social services funds

The decision came less than a day after the five states targeted by the Trump administration filed a lawsuit arguing that the freeze could create havoc among families with young children.

Washington: A federal judge in New York temporarily blocked the Trump administration from freezing roughly $10 billion in federal funding for child care and social services destined for five Democratic-led states, keeping funds flowing until a lawsuit against the government can progress.

In a brief order Friday, Judge Arun Subramanian directed the Trump administration to release funds for three social services programs it had planned to withhold for the next two weeks while a legal challenge by the affected states continues.

The decision came less than a day after the five states targeted by the Trump administration — New York, California, Minnesota, Illinois and Colorado — filed a lawsuit arguing that the freeze could create havoc among families with young children.

According to the suit, on Jan. 5 and 6, officials in the five states received letters notifying them of an immediate pause in funding for three major programs that serve low-income families and people with disabilities. That included around $7.3 billion through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, as well as nearly $2.4 billion from the Child Care and Development Fund, in addition to a number of smaller social service grants.

The programs disproportionately benefit vulnerable and low-income families, and the cuts could cumulatively upend support systems for hundreds of thousands of households across the five states, the lawsuit argued.

“This decision is a critical victory for families whose lives have been upended by this administration’s cruelty,” Letitia James, the New York attorney general, said in a statement.

The Trump administration has suggested that the freeze was a reaction to allegations of fraud within Minnesota’s state social safety net programs, though it has yet to provide evidence that similar schemes took place at scale in the other four states it targeted.

On Friday evening, Brooke Rollins, the agriculture secretary, wrote on social media that all funding from the Agriculture Department — nearly $130 million — would be withheld from Minnesota as well.

Although the emergency hearing was handled Friday by Subramanian, a Biden appointee, the case was assigned to Judge Vernon S. Broderick, an Obama appointee, who will handle future motions.