New York suing Trump administration over federal funding freeze

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Update: On Tuesday afternoon, moments before the funding freeze was supposed to take effect, a federal judge in the District of Columbia temporarily blocked the policy. Judge Loren L. AliKhan’s decision came in response to a lawsuit filed by four organizations against the Office of Management and Budget. Their suit argues that the funding halt violates the First Amendment and the Administrative Procedure Act, which governs how administrative agencies issue regulations.

New York State is suing the Trump administration over the federal funding freeze announced Tuesday. 

It is leading 21 other states in seeking a court order to stop enforcement of the Office of Management and Budget’s policy, which was slated to take effect at 5 p.m. before a judge intervened. The policy may halt trillions of dollars in federal grants and loans—gargantuan implications for local communities reliant on federal money for a list of programs too long to enumerate.

The exact scope of the policy is unclear, and the confusion has caused outrage and other litigation. A boilerplate letter sent to the New York Department of Health says the policy applies only to funding extended under programs “implicated” in any of seven of Trump’s executive orders, and that any program providing “direct benefits” to individuals would not be subject to the pause. 

The freeze order issued by the OMB directed a “temporary pause” on the activities of any agency touched on by the president’s executive orders, including but not limited to “financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal.” Gov. Kathy Hochul said the state is looking for clarity on the extent of the order.

“There is no question—this policy is reckless, dangerous, illegal, and unconstitutional,” said Attorney General Letitia James while announcing the lawsuit. “From the families who rely upon Head Start for childcare, to the children across the country who depend upon SNAP for their next meal, to the seniors who rely on state services to get the care that they need, this policy will disrupt the lives of millions of Americans in New York and nationwide.”

Attorneys general from each state intending to sue called the move an unconstitutional overreach of presidential power and raised alarm about its potential impacts. 

Some states have already been blocked from access to funds. Head Start in Michigan and Maryland’s access to child development block grants have been frozen, James says. At least 20 states—including New York—have been shut out of their Medicaid reimbursement systems, she adds. Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden from Oregon said today that all 50 states lost access to their reimbursement portals.

A New York Department of Health spokesperson said an updated Q&A document from OMB clarified that mandatory programs like Medicaid will continue without pause, but she also confirmed that the agency has had issues accessing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ payment management system, which is used to support a multitude of health programs.

Federal health researchers and nonprofit aid organizations have also experienced interruptions in federal support, the New York Times reports.

Rochester Mayor Malik Evans says he has “grave concerns” about the policy’s potential impacts on the city and nongovernmental organizations that rely on federal funding. He mirrored Hochul in calling on the federal government to provide more specifics so the city can determine the immediate effects of the freeze. The city will provide updates as information becomes available, Evans says.

He has been in touch with officials at all levels of government and community leaders so they can work together on a response to all kinds of sweeping federal developments since Trump has taken office, he adds.

“OMB and the president does not have the unilateral authority to indefinitely pause all federal financial assistance under any circumstances,” says California AG Rob Bonta. “That isn’t OMB’s job, that isn’t the president’s job, the U.S. Constitution gives the power of the purse exclusively to Congress. OMB is jumping so far out of their swim lane that, frankly, they are out of the pool.”

The lawsuit will be New York’s second so far against Trump’s administration, which has been in power for eight days. The state also joined 21 others last week in challenging the president’s executive order ending birthright citizenship, protection of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment that guarantees U.S.-born children are citizens regardless of their parent’s status.

On the funding freeze, Hochul says the state needs more information and to know whether there will be any pushback from members of Congress, particularly Republicans, as they are in control, when they start hearing from constituents and local officials impacted by the freeze.

“No state on their own is going to be able to backfill the loss of billions of federal dollars,” she says. “That’s not possible. And so there has to be a different approach back instead of just saying, ‘Oh, New York, how are you going to solve for this?’ Or, ‘How is Kansas going to solve for this?’ This is not going to be dealt with state by state.” 

She continued: “There has to be a strategy that says, ‘Washington, do you realize the consequences of what you’ve done here? And do you really want us to not fund law enforcement? Do you really want us to not fund roads and bridges? Do you really want us to take away essential money that attracts businesses here instead of building semiconductors in South Asia? Is this really what you intended?’”

Justin O’Connor is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer. 

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One thought on “New York suing Trump administration over federal funding freeze

  1. You have to (almost) feel sorry for Donald the Felon Fuhrer. He hasn’t a clue about the executive orders he’s signing. His Project 2025 handlers shove a piece of paper in front of him, he slaps on a signature, and them rolls away to the golf course. The crash and burning of the federal funding freeze fiasco is a classic example. He had no idea what it covered or how it would be implemented. And clearly neither did anyone else in his regime. The most pathetic part is that, despite the fact that many Red States receive a higher percentage of federal dollars than do many of the Blues, not a single Red State AG had the guts to file against the plan.

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