By NIKOEL HYTREK
Capitol News Illinois
nhytrek@capitolnewsillinois.com
A federal judge on Friday granted a preliminary injunction in the case concerning the Trump administration’s freeze on $10 billion in child care and family planning funding to five blue states, including Illinois.
Judge Vernon S. Broderick of the Southern District of New York ordered that the administration cannot withhold funding for three federal programs that provide assistance to the states.
The administration is also “directed to immediately remove any restrictions, outside of permitted statutory authority, on Plaintiffs’ ability to draw down funds under the Child Care Development Fund, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, or TANF, and Social Services Block Grants programs; and they are further enjoined and stayed from reimposing such restrictions.”
The states are also not required to submit the documents that were demanded by the administration in a series of letters that accused the states of fraud.
The injunction will be in place until the full case on the legality of the freeze is decided.
“This is another win that stops the Trump administration from illegally withholding federal funding without justification, which would ultimately hurt Illinois families and harm our state’s economy,” Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in a statement Monday.
“Congress enacted this critical funding to support families and help working parents access child care. The president does not have the authority to withhold it, particularly as a punishment to his perceived political opponents,” he said.
The freeze, first announced in January, affected about $1 billion for Illinois.
The administration said it was because of suspicions about fraud — including providing benefits to immigrants lacking permanent legal status — but provided no details or proof.
Illinois, California, Colorado, Minnesota and New York sued over the freeze and were twice granted temporary restraining orders, the last of which was set to expire Friday.
The five blue states targeted in the freeze say it’s a political move, that they already protect against fraud, and the administration intentionally gave them “an impossible task on an impossible timeline.”
Some federal funds go toward state child care support programs like the Child Care Assistance Program that help families find and afford child care. Without those programs, advocates have said child care businesses would likely close, worsening an existing shortage in Illinois.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
