A group of Democratic attorneys general, led by New York’s Letitia James, announced their plans to sue the Trump administration over its pause of federal grants and loans.
The pause, announced in a memorandum issued by President Donald Trump‘s acting Office of Management and Budget director, Matthew Vaeth, will affect several grants but not assistance offered directly to individuals, such as Social Security, according to the White House.
Democrats have raged over the order, with James announcing a plan to halt the pause, which is slated to be enacted by 5 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday.
“Later today, I am leading and joining with my colleagues, my fellow democratic attorneys general, in suing this administration to stop this illegal freeze of essential funds for our state. We will not stand for any illegal policy that puts essential services for millions of Americans at risk, and we work tirelessly overnight to ensure that that does not happen,” James said at a press briefing Tuesday.
“Our lawsuit will seek an order, a court order, to immediately stop the enforcement of the OMB policy and to preserve essential funding for Americans,” James added.
James was joined in her announcement by the attorneys general of California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Rhode Island.
“We will not stand by while the president attempts to disrupt vital programs that feed our kids, provide medical care to our families, and support housing in our communities. We won’t stand by while the president breaks the law and oversteps his authority as outlined in our Constitution, a constitution he swore an oath to uphold just one week ago,” California Attorney General Robert Bonta said at the briefing. “It shouldn’t be too much to ask that the president follow the law and abide by the federal government’s commitments.”
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James, who took Trump to court in a fraud case before his return to the White House, said during the briefing that she is willing to work with the Trump administration but warned that “when it comes to a clear violation of the law, we will not be silent.”
The White House clarified in a subsequent memo on Tuesday that various programs, including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP, Pell grants, Head Start, and retail assistance, would not be paused.