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Judge blocks Trump admin from freezing billions in childcare and welfare money to CA — for now
President Donald Trump listens to a reporter's question in the Oval Office of the White House on Friday.
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Alex Brandon
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AP
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Topline:
A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from following through on plans to freeze billions of dollars in childcare and welfare funding to California and four other Democrat-led states. Friday’s ruling came less than a day after the states filed suit.
What’s next: The temporary order expires in 14 days. The court battle will continue to play out, with further decisions by the judge expected in the coming weeks, after more arguments from both sides.
The context: In halting childcare and welfare benefits to hundreds of thousands of low-income Californians, the Trump administration wrote that “recent federal prosecutions” are driving concerns about “systemic fraud.” But an LAist review found fraud in the targeted programs appears to be a tiny fraction of the total spending. Prosecutions that have been brought around child care benefits amount to a small fraction of 1% of the federal childcare funding California has received, according to a search of all case announcements in the state. When pressed for details about what specific prosecutions justify the freeze in California, administration officials have offered few specifics.
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