Arizona sues for permanent block of Trump's federal funding freeze

U.S. District Court Judge Loren AliKhan in Washington, D.C., agreed late Tuesday to grant a “brief administrative stay’’ that keeps all federal disbursements in place, at least until Monday. That will presumably give the judge a chance to hear arguments submitted by various nonprofit and public health organizations that contend Trump’s move is illegal.

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, along with 22 other attorneys general, filed their own legal claims Tuesday against the Trump administration.

The case raises broader constitutional and legal claims about the president’s action than the one heard by AliKhan, said Mayes’ solicitor general, Josh Bendor.

Mayes said the litigation is not just a policy dispute. There are real and serious effects of the potential loss of billions of dollars to Arizona if the spending freeze goes into effect, she said, including:

— Eliminating funds that Arizona families now can use to get subsidized child care;

— Drying up funds for school lunch programs;

— Withholding money that tenants in Section 8 housing need to pay their rent just days from now;

— Impairing the ability of the state to pay some of its public safety officers, including those involved in combating fentanyl trafficking.

One bit of relief came after the Governor’s Office said the Trump administration restored access to federal Medicaid funds late Tuesday. More than 2 million people get care through the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, the state’s Medicaid program.

But Mayes said there are other grants that support hospitals and clinics around the state that would be caught up in the freeze.

There also is some question about whether the directive would also halt payments for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, more commonly known as food stamps.

“More than 450,000 Arizona households rely on SNAP benefits to afford dinner on their tables every single night,’’ Mayes said.

All of this, the Democratic attorney general said, causes unnecessary chaos. More to the point, she said Trump can’t legally do any of it.

The announcement Monday from the Trump administration was framed by Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, as a “temporary pause.’’

She said the president wants to be sure the money spent on federal assistance programs — $3 trillion in 2024 — does not conflict with his executive actions and orders. Leavitt said the administration was trying to be “good stewards’’ of public funds, specifically mentioning that President Trump wants to be sure there is “no more funding for transgenderism and wokeness.”

A memo from Matthew Vance, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, was broader. “The use of federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve,’’ he wrote.

Social Security benefits would remain untouched.

There was no immediate comment from Republican legislative leaders in Arizona about the Trump order.

Mayes just last week sued the administration over its directive to no longer recognize birthright citizenship, which resulted in a judge temporarily blocking that order. She called the latest action “another blatantly unconstitutional action from Donald Trump’s new administration.’’

Much of her case is based on the fact that the funds at issue were approved by Congress. States are counting on that cash, she noted.

“This chaotic and lawless order attempts to steal allocated dollars that are included in state budgets,’’ Mayes said. “States like Arizona will be unable to pay public safety employees, cops on the street, satisfy contractual obligations and carry on the important business of government.’’

She acknowledged that Trump won the 2024 presidential election. “But winning by one of the slimmest election margins in history does not grant him dictatorial powers,’’ Mayes said. “No presidential election grants any president that authority.’’

She also suggested that many of those who would be harmed by even a pause in funding are “the very people who placed the trust in Trump when they cast their ballot for him in November.’’

Consider, she said, the effect on Arizona’s ability to work with federal agents to help secure the border, including cutting off dollars for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program. Trump made sealing the border a top issue in his campaign.

“They claim to care about law enforcement but then they defund law enforcement,’’ Mayes said. “Law enforcement wants to do their job. Law enforcement wants to be able to seize fentanyl, go after the drug cartels, deal with the border situation.’’

Mayes said there’s much more involved, even if the edict does not affect Medicaid — and even as Leavitt insisted that welfare benefits and food stamps will remain untouched.

“Nearly one million children rely on federally provided school lunch and breakfast so they don’t go hungry,’’ Mayes said. “For many, that is the only meal they are going to get.’’

Also at issue, she said, are Head Start and preschool programs for more than 15,000 children.

She also cited a program to provide utility assistance to those of limited resources. Without it, she said, people “will literally be left out in the cold.’’

What also is unclear, Mayes said, is the fate of grants to universities and student loans, although national reports said student aid would not be affected immediately.

“The president does not have the unilateral authority, really dictatorial authority, to countermand, to override, what Congress has already authorized through law,’’ she said. “These are funds that were authorized by Congress and Donald Trump just turned the spigot of. That is not the way it works in our country.’’

The president’s action has supporters. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson called the freeze “the appropriate thing for a new administration to do.’’

“We want to make sure that the executive orders of the new administration are being followed,’’ he said while at a House Republican retreat in Florida. “I think it’s going to be harmless.’’