Federal judge blocks White House freeze of childcare subsidies in Democratic states

Funding was paused because health department said benefits were going to people in country illegally

A federal judge ruled on Friday that the Trump administration cannot block federal money for childcare subsidies and other programs aimed at supporting low-income families with children from flowing to five Democratic-led states for now.

The states of California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York argued that a policy announced on Tuesday to freeze billions of dollars in funds for three grant programs was having an immediate impact on them and creating operational chaos". In court filings and a hearing earlier on Friday, the states contended that the government did not have a legal reason for withholding the money from them.