PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — The attorneys general of Rhode Island and Massachusetts joined four colleagues from other states Tuesday in filing a federal lawsuit that seeks to block the Trump administration’s freeze on federal-assistance funding, loans and grants.
The states’ top prosecutors filed a temporary restraining order in Rhode Island U.S. District Court in Providence, calling President Donald Trump’s actions illegal, unconstitutional, reckless and dangerous.
The legal action comes less than 24 hours after the Trump administration issued a memo Monday evening directing federal agencies to pause “all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance" pending a review of spending.
“What a ham-handed way to run a government,” Neronha said during a joint news conference Tuesday afternoon. “We as Americans, from the very beginning, have had a compact with our federal government: we pay taxes, and those taxes go to Washington. But we expect those monies to come back to us, as allocated by Congress.”
Story continues below video.
Federal funding accounts for 37% of Rhode Island's nearly $14 billion state budget in the current fiscal year, according to the R.I. House Fiscal Office. More than half of that federal money -- about $2.8 billion -- goes to to the Medicaid health program. Other large pots of federal funding go toward SNAP food benefits and highway projects.
Neronha filed the lawsuit along with five other attorneys general, including Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell. Trump's directive has quickly spurred backlash from social-service providers across the country and sent local agencies into a state of disarray and confusion.
Campbell said Massachusetts is already facing logistical issues, including on Monday when state officials were unable to draw down $40 million from Medicaid, the federally funded health insurance program that covers nearly two million in the Bay State and about one out of every three people in Rhode Island.
"We haven't received the payment yet," Campbell said. "This is just one potential funding stream that could be impacted by this reckless order."
Olivia DaRocha, a spokesperson for Gov. Dan McKee, said Rhode Island also had trouble with the federal Medicaid portal earlier Tuesday, but that access had resumed by that evening.
In an affidavit included in the federal lawsuit, R.I. Department of Administration Director Jonathan Womer said when state officials sought clarification from federal Medicaid officials about the situation, they were told "there would be no communication in writing."
The White House acknowledged Tuesday afternoon that the website used by states to manage Medicaid was down, but officials insisted to CBS News that the outage was unrelated to the funding freeze.
Matthew Vaeth, acting director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, wrote in the memo that the order was necessary so that the new administration could eliminate any funding that doesn't align with the many executive orders Trump has signed since retaking office last week.
"Federal agencies must temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance, and other relevant agency activities that may be implicated by the executive orders, including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal," Vaeth wrote.
But the prosecutors called the memo poorly worded and vague, which they said is evident by the confusion it's creating across the country.
Federal officials sought to clarify the memo Tuesday afternoon, circulating new language around Capitol Hill that said "mandatory programs like Medicaid and SNAP will continue without pause." (The initial memo only explicitly carved out Medicare and Social Security from funding delays, according to a copy of the memo obtained by 12 News.)
Other attorneys general joining the lawsuit initially included N.Y. Attorney General Letitia James, N.J. Attorney General Matt Platkin, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and California Attorney General Rob Bonta. The prosecutors are all Democrats, and Trump is a Republican, but the attorney generals insisted the legal action was about a question of law rather than politics.
"This is not a question of being adversarial -- this is about a question of the constitution and the rule of law," James said. "What we are doing is protecting democracy."
The Trump directive has also sparked backlash from the Rhode Island congressional delegation, along with state elected officials, who have already accounted on the federal funding for different parts of government.
That includes $220 million to demolish and rebuild the shuttered westbound Washington Bridge, which has been closed to traffic on Interstate 195 for more than a year. Rhode Island Congressman Gabe Amo, also a Democrat, released a statement calling the funding freeze "unlawful, chaotic, and deeply harmful to the entire country."
"This action will bring great pain to many — from community health centers to federal programs that help feed hungry kids to small businesses and nonprofit organizations doing good work in our communities," Amo said. "People will suffer at the hands of this decision."
"Make no mistake, these are federal dollars, paid for by taxpayers, for taxpayers, and already approved by Congress to benefit red and blue state communities alike," he continued. "Alongside every reasonably-minded American, I urgently call on the president to end these illegal, political games."
Ted Nesi and Tim White contributed to this report.