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Arizona joins 22 other states in lawsuit challenging Trump's federal funding freeze

 Kris Mayes
Gage Skidmore/CC BY 2.0
Kris Mayes
A new memo from the Office of Management and Budget appeared to say the freeze was reversed, but the White House said that only the original memo was rescinded, not the freeze itself.

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes has joined 22 other Democratic state AGs to block an pause in federal aid put in place by the Trump Administration.

According to NPR, a memo from President Donald Trump’s office of management and budget calls for a halt to federal grants, loans and financial assistance while agencies determine whether those programs align with the president’s priorities.

The memo, obtained by NPR, says a temporary pause in funding takes effect at 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday. It doesn’t specify exactly which programs are affected, causing widespread confusion.

“We are still evaluating the full impacts of this reckless action, but one thing is clear: this is creating chaos for Veterans, law enforcement, domestic violence shelters and the children of working families,” Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs wrote on social media.

Mayes said the freeze could affect dozens of programs that rely on billions of dollars in federal funding to provide an array of services, from combatting fentanyl trafficking to providing food and childcare assistance for low-income families.

“This is literally how we fund police officers and sheriffs and and efforts to bring down the Mexican drug cartels with this money,” Mayes said. “This is how we do it, and Donald Trump just cut that. It's nonsense. It's nonsensical. He claims to want to go after the Mexican drug cartels, but then he defunds the police in Arizona.”

Critics call the freeze unlawful because Congress has already approved the money to be spent. Specifically, Mayes said it violates federal laws laying out how to rollback expenditures approved by Congress and the U.S. Constitution's separation of powers provision that divides responsibilities between the three branches of government.

The Office of Management and Budget has rescinded its call for a pause on federal assistance, but the White House said that only the original memo calling for the freeze had been rescinded. If enforced, the freeze could cost Arizona hundreds of millions.

“It can't be done by a man who has decided that he wants to be a dictator on, apparently, Days 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 and 9,” Mayes said.

Mayes signed onto a lawsuit filed in Rhode Island that asks a federal judge to block the funding freeze. A federal judge in Washington D.C. already issued a temporary injunction to that effect on Tuesday after nonprofit groups filed suit to block the action.

The Trump administration argues the action doesn’t violate the law, because it is only a temporary review to ensure affected programs align with Trump’s priorities.

“This is not a blanket pause on federal assistance and grant programs from the Trump Administration,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, noting that items like social security benefits, Medicare and food stamps would not be affected.

But Mayes indicated some of those programs were interrupted, saying the Arizona Department of Economic Security – which administers food assistance programs – was unable to access around $200 million in federal funding today.

Despite the 5 p.m. start time listed in the memo, Mayes said several state other agencies lost access to federal funds earlier on Tuesday, including the Department of Veterans Services; Department of Health Services; and AHCCCS, the state’s Medicaid program.

A spokesman for the governor confirmed that the state’s Medicaid program regained access in the mid-afternoon.

Leavitt blamed the Medicaid problems, which affected states across the country, on a website outage.

Dozens of Arizona agencies and programs receive billions of dollars annually from the federal government for everything from education to public safety to economic development.

Just two agencies, the Department of Education and Department of Economic Security, are expected to receive over $8 billion in federal funding this year, according to estimates from budget analysts at the Arizona Legislature.

Republican state Superintendent Tom Horne said his office was informed by their federal counterparts that the pause will not affect Title I grants for low-income schools, special education funding or other formula grants.

“Nevertheless, because there are many details yet to be clarified, as a contingency I have directed this department to draw down the funds needed during the two-week period covered by the federal pause,” Horne said in a statement. “Like all state education agencies throughout the country, we are expecting further details from the federal government on the implications of this pause so we can respond accordingly.”

The Arizona Department of Public Safety is expected to receive another $54 million.

“This morning, I’m hearing from folks in every corner of the state – Mayors, county supervisors, community organizations, and Arizonans are worried about how this will cut off our law enforcement, meals for seniors and school children, projects to respond to and prevent floods and wildfires, housing and health care support for every day people,” Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly said in a statement.

More Arizona politics news

Wayne Schutsky is a broadcast field correspondent covering Arizona politics on KJZZ. He has over a decade of experience as a journalist reporting on local communities in Arizona and the state Capitol.