Nearly two dozen Democratic attorneys general are teaming up to challenge the Trump administration’s rationale for slashing billions of dollars of federal grant funding for states and other recipients.
The new lawsuit filed in a Massachusetts federal district court on Tuesday is the latest in a series of court battles over the administration’s “slash-and-burn campaign” to freeze congressionally mandated funding for programs that do everything from ensuring clean drinking water to reducing asthma risks.
“On top of causing dangerous chaos and confusion, these cuts are simply illegal. Congress has the power of the purse, and the president cannot cut billions of dollars of essential resources simply because he doesn’t like the programs being funded,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is leading the suit along with Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell and New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin.
The lawsuit, unlike other pending challenges, does not ask a federal court to restore canceled grant funding. Instead, it asks for a judge to weigh in on the Trump administration’s reliance on a clause in a 2020 regulation that states agencies can cancel grant funding that “no longer effectuates … agency priorities.”
