US government rescinds $10 billion freeze for 5 states governed by Democrats

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON, July 13 (Reuters) – The Trump administration’s Department of Health and Human Services rescinded a $10 billion freeze on child care subsidies and social services funding in five Democratic-run states after legal hurdles blocked the freeze efforts, court records showed on Monday.

Here are the details:

• The Department of Health and Human Services notified officials in California, Illinois, Colorado, New York and Minnesota that it has rescinded the Jan. 5 and Jan. 6 letters it sent to the states, including all data requests and information requirements related to those letters.

• ​In a legal filing on Monday, a communication was released stating that “the department’s mechanism to implement temporary limited outages has been terminated.”

• A federal judge blocked the move earlier this year, pending states’ lawsuits against the freeze.

• Republican President Donald Trump has threatened to freeze federal funding for universities, research institutions and states on a variety of issues.

• ​These include fraud allegations, climate initiatives, diversity programs, transgender policies and pro-Palestinian protests against US ally Israel’s attack on Gaza.

• Rights advocates say the measures violate free speech and due process rights.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus)