Illinois, 4 other states sue Trump administration over frozen child care funds

Lisa Schencker, Chicago Tribune on Jan 9, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

CHICAGO — Illinois and four other states are suing the Trump administration over its decision earlier this week to withhold $10 billion in child care and family assistance funds.

The attorneys general of Illinois, California, Colorado, Minnesota and New York filed the lawsuit Thursday in federal court in New York, alleging federal officials have no legal or constitutional authority to freeze the money.

Federal officials “have said that the ACF Funding Freeze is necessary to root out ‘potential’ fraud, but this is pretext,” the states allege in the lawsuit. “Their transparent motivation is to punish ‘Democrat-led’ states who are disfavored by the Administration based on numerous public statements …”

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services General Counsel Mike Stuart wrote in a post on X Thursday evening that the department stands by its decision to freeze the funds, saying it “identified serious concerns in these states that warranted immediate review and action.”

“It’s unfortunate that these Attorney Generals from these Democrat-led states are less focused on reducing fraud and more focused on partisan political stunts,” Stuart wrote.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that it would freeze the dollars over concerns about fraud and misuse of the money. The federal government said in a news release the money is “intended for American citizens and lawful residents” and “may have been improperly provided to individuals who are not eligible under federal law.”

Gov. JB Pritzker’s office, however, has said that the federal government has not provided the state with details or information about any alleged fraud.

Illinois stands to lose about $1 billion, according to the governor’s office.

That money comes from three areas: the Child Care and Development Fund, Social Services Block Grant funds, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

In Illinois, about 100,000 low-income, working families receive subsidized child care through the Child Care Assistance Program which is partly funded by Child Care and Development Block Grant, according to the governor’s office.

That money goes to daycares and preschools to help offset the costs of tuition for low-income, working families. Illinois leaders of child care centers and parents say that without that money, parents may no longer be able to afford to send their children to child care and will no longer be able to work.

Letters from the federal government notifying states of the freeze earlier this week also asked states to turn over “the complete universe” of documents related to their use of the money, including the personal information of millions of residents within two weeks, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit called that “an impossible task on an impossible timeline.” The lawsuit alleges that the federal government froze the funding without conducting a meaningful investigation, and is now on a “fishing expedition” to find a reason for the freeze.

____