Overview
- U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian extended a temporary restraining order, preserving payments for at least 14 more days while the lawsuit proceeds.
- The order covers California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York and does not decide the legality of the administration’s policy.
- The affected streams are the Child Care and Development Fund, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and the Social Services Block Grant, which the states say total more than $10 billion a year and help 1.3 million children access care.
- HHS said it restricted drawdowns because it had reason to believe ineligible recipients were getting benefits and sought names and Social Security numbers dating back to 2022, while asserting funds can resume if states provide the data.
- The states argue the move bypassed required procedures and targets political opponents, and New York Attorney General Letitia James called the ruling a critical victory as USDA separately froze about $130 million a year to Minnesota tied to fraud concerns.