The Trump administration’s unprecedented, sweeping freeze on $3 trillion in federal grants and help despatched shockwaves by susceptible communities and each stage of presidency on Tuesday, however Democratic attorneys basic shortly banded collectively to combat again. Twenty-three states filed a lawsuit simply minutes after U.S. District Decide Loren L. AliKhan blocked the freeze Tuesday afternoon. The executive keep pauses the motion till Monday, based on the Related Press.
Donald Trump’s newest stunt would have halted important packages like Medicaid and Head Begin, that are important lifelines for low-income communities who depend on them for varsity meals, well being care, and early childhood training. The funding freeze additionally jeopardizes crucial training initiatives like Pell Grants and ESSA funding, which assist college students entry school, and baby care block grants that assist working households.
Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii introduced on Tuesday that well being care suppliers in a number of states had been locked out of the Medicaid portal, basically blocking Medicaid funds and jeopardizing medical remedy.
“This is a Trump shutdown, except this time it’s unlawful,” he wrote on BlueSky.
A mere 4 hours after the funding freeze first made headlines, Democratic attorneys generals from six states held a press convention to announce they have been forming a multistate coalition to sue the Trump administration over the shutdown. Filed late Tuesday, the lawsuit seeks a right away courtroom order to cease the coverage’s enforcement and hold funds flowing and was introduced by Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.
New York Lawyer Normal Letitia James known as Trump’s order “reckless, dangerous, illegal, and unconstitutional.”
“When the president and his administration, with the stroke of a pen, issues an unconstitutional and unlawful directive that freezes that funding simply because he doesn’t like something about our state, about a particular person in our state, about a policy that duly enacted in our state that’s totally unrelated … he not only violates the laws and the constitution of this nation, he violates the norms of who we are as a people,” stated New Jersey Lawyer Normal Matthew Platkin.
Rhode Island Lawyer Normal Peter Neronha emphasised that Trump’s shutdown impacts everybody, not simply the vengeful president’s perceived political enemies.
“If you drive on a road, you’re impacted,” Neronha stated. “If you get health care, you’re impacted. If your children are being educated, you’re impacted. If you believe in public safety, you’re impacted. If you’re a man or woman in blue, and all of you who are protected by them, you’re impacted.”
A few of Trump’s dependable Republican cronies have been fast to defend the brazen transfer, together with Rep. Wealthy McCormick of Georgia, who defended the choice to take faculty meals away from kids throughout a Tuesday interview with CNN.
McCormick stated these youngsters ought to work for McDonald’s as an alternative of “sponging off the government.”
“Before I was even 13 years old, I was picking berries in the field before child labor laws that precluded that. I was a paper boy, and when I was in high school, I worked my entire way through,” McCormick bragged. “You’re telling me that kids who stay at home instead of going to work at Burger King, McDonald’s during the summer, should stay at home and get their free lunch instead of going to work? I think we need to have a top-down review.”
One Bluesky person sarcastically commented, “Hey, hungry 8-year-olds. Get off your lazy ass and get an after school job to pay for your food!”
Minority Chief Hakeem Jeffries introduced that the Home Democratic Caucus will maintain an emergency assembly Wednesday to strategize about how one can problem Trump’s order in courtroom and what message to speak to constituents.
“Republicans are ripping off hardworking Americans by stealing taxpayer dollars, grants, and financial assistance as part of their corrupt scheme to pay off billionaire donors and wealthy corporations,” Jeffries stated in a press release. “The Republican Rip Off will raise the cost of living for the working class, while hurting children, seniors, veterans, first responders, houses of worship and everyday Americans in need.”
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