Admin Withholding Safety Net Money     01/07 06:11

   

   (AP) -- President Donald Trump's administration said Tuesday that it is 
withholding funding for programs that support needy families with children in 
five Democratic-led states over concerns about fraud.

   The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the 
program, will require the states to provide extra documentation to access the 
funds.

   "Families who rely on child care and family assistance programs deserve 
confidence that these resources are used lawfully and for their intended 
purpose," HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O'Neill said in a statement.

   The administration has not laid out details about the fraud allegations.

   HHS said in a statement evening that it "identified concerns that these 
benefits intended for American citizens and lawful residents may have been 
improperly provided to individuals who are not eligible under federal law."

   Five states -- California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York -- are 
targeted, and the HHS said they had been notified.

   Gov. Kathy Hochul said earlier in the day that New York is prepared to take 
the administration to court, as Democratic-led states have done scores of times 
now.

   "We'll fight this with every fiber of our being, because our kids should not 
be political pawns in a fight that Donald Trump seems to have with blue state 
governors," she said.

   The plan to withhold the funds was first reported by the New York Post.

   Programs aim to help needy children and their families

   The targeted programs provide lifelines to some of the neediest Americans:

   -- The Child Care and Development Fund subsidizes day care for low-income 
households, enabling parents to work or go to school.

   -- Temporary Assistance for Needy Families provides cash assistance and job 
training so parents in poverty can afford diapers and clothes and earn 
paychecks.

   -- The Social Services Block Grant, a much smaller fund, supports several 
different social service programs.

   "These resources support families in need and help them access food and much 
more. If true, it would be awful to see the federal government targeting the 
most needy families and children this way," Colorado Gov. Jared Polis' office 
said in a statement.

   Trump himself has not spoken on the specifics, but he proclaimed on social 
media Tuesday: "The Fraud Investigation of California has begun."

   Tara Gallegos, a spokesperson for California Gov. Gavin Newsom, said via 
email that "Donald Trump is a deranged, habitual liar whose relationship with 
reality ended years ago." She also defended California's record on stamping out 
fraud in government programs.

   New York Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said Trump's move to halt 
funding aims to score political points, not to stop fraud.

   "It's our job to serve the people most in need and most at risk -- no matter 
what state they live in or what political party their family or elected 
representatives belong to," she said in a statement. "To use the power of the 
government to harm the neediest Americans is immoral and indefensible."

   Trump administration amplifies fraud claims

   For months the has claimed that federally funded programs are being 
defrauded and used that assertion as a rationale to hold up money.

   Federal child care funding has been on hold in Minnesota since late last 
month amid investigations into a series of alleged fraud schemes at day care 
centers run by people with family roots in Somalia.

   In the fallout, HHS officials said no state will receive child care funds 
without providing more verification. Several states have told The Associated 
Press that they have not received any guidance on that decision.

   The administration also raised fraud claims involving SNAP, the country's 
main food aid program, saying it would halt administrative money to states -- 
most Democratic-run ones -- unless they provide requested details on 
recipients. That process could take months.

   The administration has said the information provided by most GOP-controlled 
states shows fraud may be worse than previously believed, though it has not 
provided the data or detailed reports.

   Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid 
Services, told Fox News on Tuesday that his agency also plans to audit 
Minnesota's Medicaid bills in search of potential fraud. He did not provide any 
evidence of fraud that had been found.