Trump Administration Releases $10 Billion in Childcare Funding to Five States After Lawsuit

The Trump administration lifted its freeze on roughly $10 billion in federal childcare and social services funding for California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York, Washington Examiner reported. The Department of Health and Human Services sent nearly identical letters to officials in the five states last week rescinding earlier restrictions and withdrawing requirements for additional eligibility data.

The funding dispute began in January when the administration froze childcare funding for Minnesota.

HHS later expanded similar restrictions to the other four states while alleging widespread welfare fraud in the Democrat-led states. California and the four other states sued days after the initial freeze, calling the decision baseless and cruel. Lawyers for the Trump administration argued the lawsuit should be dismissed because the funding has been returned.

Attorneys for the states opposed dismissal, saying the administration could reinstate the restrictions if the case ended. Attorney Rabia Muqaddam, representing New York, wrote that defendants failed to convince plaintiffs to consent to mootness and are now taking another tactic to avoid judicial review.

She stated the administration abruptly withdrew its request for a permanent injunction without any good faith effort to address the states’ concerns and has been actively resisting plaintiffs’ efforts to obtain discovery.

President Donald Trump appointed Vice President JD Vance to lead the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, which has targeted alleged abuse in Medicare, Medicaid, and the H-1B visa program, Washington Examiner reported.