Maryland & DC Sue to Block Trump Administration’s Federal Funding Policy

The attorneys general of Maryland and Washington, D.C. filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration to prevent a policy that would cut important government funding.

The President’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced the policy late Monday night, and it was set to start at 5 p.m. on Tuesday. Maryland’s Attorney General said that the policy statement caused immediate confusion and chaos for many Americans.

If the policy goes into action after a federal judge’s temporary block is lifted, it will stop federal loans and grants. These loans and grants provide crucial financial support for local governments, schools, and nonprofit organizations throughout the country, according to the Associated Press.

After a federal judge stopped the action, Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown announced in a news release that he was joining a group of 22 lawyers who are suing to prevent the policy.

“The policy would put important state programs at risk. These programs help families with health and childcare, support public schools, fight hate crimes and violence against women, and offer disaster relief to states, among other things,” Brown said.

The coalition wants the court to quickly stop the OBM policy from being enforced and to protect important funds.

“The OBM Directive breaks the Administrative Procedure Act and is against the Constitution,” the lawsuit said.

Brown mentioned that states had already said that funds were stopped, putting services at risk nationwide, just hours before the policy was set to start.

For example, the complaint says that the system for handling Medicaid payments was not working for several hours in many states, even though the OMB explained that the pause does not affect Medicaid funds.

The 22 attorneys general say that without federal money, their states will struggle to offer necessary benefits, pay their public workers, or handle important government tasks.

“The coalition says that the president can’t just change laws about federal spending on his own, and that the OMB’s policy unfairly takes away Congress’s ability to decide how federal money is used,” Brown said.