Overview
- The pause covers three programs: about $7.35 billion in TANF, roughly $2.4 billion in the Child Care and Development Fund, and approximately $869 million from the Social Services Block Grant, according to HHS.
- HHS said states’ access to the funds is restricted pending review and that childcare money will not flow without additional documentation and verification from states.
- The action follows intensified federal investigations centered in Minnesota, where child-care payments were halted in late December after a viral video and long-running prosecutions tied to alleged large-scale social-services fraud.
- Democratic officials in the affected states denounced the move as political and warned of harm to low-income families, with some saying they had yet to receive detailed guidance and others exploring legal options.
- President Trump promoted the freeze on social media and referenced new probes in California, while HHS has not publicly presented broad fraud evidence for the other four states.