Raoul, Democratic AGs to sue over Trump’s freeze on grants

Multiple Democratic-led states, including Illinois, announced Tuesday they will sue over President Donald Trump’s administration putting a pause on the disbursement of loans and grants.

A group of Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and attorneys general from New York, California, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island announced they are taking a stand against the grant freeze.

The Trump administration announced Monday it was pausing federal grants and loans starting on Tuesday as it began an across-the-board ideological review of government spending.

“January 20th was an inauguration, not a coronation,” Raoul said. “Congress is given the power to appropriate the funding.”

The funding freeze by the Republican administration could affect trillions of dollars and cause widespread disruption in health care research, education programs and other initiatives. Even grants that have been awarded but not spent are supposed to be halted.

“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,” said a memo from Matthew Vaeth, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Democrats and independent organizations swiftly criticized the administration, describing its actions as capricious and illegal because Congress had already authorized the funding.

The pause was supposed to take place starting at 4 p.m. Tuesday but Illinois officials confirmed to Shaw Local hours before the deadline that they were locked out of Medicaid.

“State agencies have reported to the Governor’s Office issues with accessing federal funding sites and disbursement systems, including Medicaid systems‚” a spokesman for the governor’s office said via email.

The Democratic attorneys general repeated during the news conference that the OMB memo was unconstitutional, and they believed they would be successful in stopping it just as they were successful in getting a judge to temporarily block Trump’s executive order aimed at limiting birthright citizenship in the 14th amendment of the constitution.

“We will not stand for any illegal policy that puts essential services at risk,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said.

Raoul said the pause in funding was unconstitutional and could affect a variety of services, including funding for police to go after crimes against children and the state’s capacity to provide for veterans.

“Democrats and Republicans alike will be affected by this pause in funding,” Raoul said.