5 Democratic states asking judge to keep Trump from withholding money
for child care
[January 23, 2026]
By GEOFF MULVIHILL
Five Democratic-controlled states are asking a judge Friday to order
President Donald Trump's administration to keep money flowing for child
care subsidies and other programs aimed at boosting low-income families
with children.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said it was pausing the
funding because it had “reason to believe” the states were granting
benefits to people in the country illegally, though it did not provide
evidence or explain why it was targeting those states and not others.
The states say the move was instead intended to damage Trump’s political
adversaries.
A judge previously gave the states a reprieve to the administration's
plan to halt funding for the states unless they provide information on
the beneficiaries of some programs, including names and Social Security
numbers. The temporary restraining order is set to expire Friday.
The request under consideration now is to keep the programs funded while
a legal challenge to the administration’s plan moves ahead.
The states in question are California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and
New York. Around the same time as the actions aimed at the five states,
the administrations put up hurdles to Minnesota for even more federal
dollars. It also began requesting all states to explain how they're
using money in the child care program.
The programs are intended to help low-income families
The programs are the Child Care and Development Fund, which subsidizes
child care for 1.3 million children from low-income families nationwide;
the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which provides cash
assistance and job training; and the Social Services Block Grant, a
smaller fund that provides money for a variety of programs. The states
say that they receive a total of more more than $10 billion a year from
those programs — and that the programs are essential for low-income and
vulnerable families.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services sent letters to the
states on Jan. 5 and 6 telling them they would be placed on "restricted
drawdown” of program money until the states provided more information.
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Children watch television at ABC Learning Center in Minneapolis,
Minn., Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Vancleave, File)
For TANF and the Social Service Block Grant, the request required
the states to submit the data, including personal information of
recipients beginning in 2022, with a deadline of Jan. 20.
States call the action ‘unlawful many times over’
In court papers last week, the states say what they describe as a
funding freeze does not follow the law.
They say Congress created laws about how the administration can
identify noncompliance or fraud by recipients of the money — and
that the federal government hasn't used that process.
They also say it's improper to freeze funding broadly because of
potential fraud and that producing the data the government called
for is an “impossible demand on an impossible timeline.”
The administration says it's not a freeze
In a court filing this week, the administration objected to the
states describing the action as a “funding freeze," even though the
headline on the Department of Health and Human Services announcement
was: “HHS Freezes Child Care and Family Assistance Grants in Five
States for Fraud Concerns.”
Federal government lawyers said the states could get the money going
forward if they provide the requested information and the federal
government finds them to be in compliance with anti-fraud measures.
The administration also notes that it has continued to provide
funding to the states, not pointing out that a court ordered it to
do so.
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