Overview
- Access is suspended for California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York under an Administration for Children and Families directive.
- The freeze covers about $2.4 billion from the Child Care and Development Fund, roughly $7.35 billion in TANF, and about $869 million from the Social Services Block Grant.
- HHS says funds will remain restricted pending state-by-state verification, including stricter Defend the Spend controls and a new public fraud-reporting website, with no timeline for release.
- Governors condemned the move as punitive and vowed to fight it, and their administrations are evaluating legal challenges to compel disbursement.
- Civil-rights advocates argue the fraud rationale lacks public evidence and warn of immediate harm to low-income families who rely on child care and cash assistance.