California Attorney General Rob Bonta has obtained a temporary restraining order that halts the Trump Administration’s attempt to freeze $10 billion in federal funding for programs supporting children, families, seniors, and people with disabilities. Of this amount, an estimated $5 billion was allocated to California. The affected funds include those from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the Child Care and Development Fund, and the Social Services Block Grant.
The order also prevents federal officials from demanding extensive documentation and years of personal data related to individuals who have received benefits from these funding streams.
“Again and again, President Trump has shown a willingness to throw vulnerable children, seniors, and families under the bus if he thinks it will advance his vendetta against Democratic-led states,” said Attorney General Bonta. “Cutting funding for childcare and other family assistance is cruel, reckless, and most importantly, illegal. Today’s emergency order is an important victory for the millions of hardworking California families who benefit from these programs — but we won’t stop fighting until we block this unlawful funding freeze permanently.”
Attorney General Bonta filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York alongside attorneys general from New York, Colorado, Illinois, and Minnesota. The suit challenges a recent move by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to immediately freeze funds solely for five Democratic-led states. HHS cited concerns about fraud but did not provide evidence for its claims.
In addition to freezing funds, HHS requested nearly all documents associated with these funding streams within 14 days as well as years’ worth of personally identifiable information about recipients.
The attorneys general argue that this action violates several federal statutes including the Administrative Procedure Act as well as constitutional provisions such as the Separation of Powers and both the Appropriations Clause and Spending Clause.
Rob Bonta leads the California Attorney General’s office, which acts as the state’s chief law enforcement authority. The office oversees uniform enforcement of laws across California while providing legal representation, consumer protections, civil rights initiatives, criminal investigations, forensic support services statewide (source). It also promotes transparency through public data portals like OpenJustice (source) and advances policies in areas such as civil rights and economic security (source).
The office is part of California’s executive branch (source) with headquarters in Sacramento (source), serving residents throughout California since its founding in 1850 (source).
