More than 20 states and the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration Monday to block a new federal policy that would allow widespread sharing of personal information from millions of people receiving cash assistance benefits for low-income families.
The coalition of states filed the lawsuit in federal court in Washington, arguing that a policy announced by the Administration for Children and Families in June would illegally expand access to sensitive personal data of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families recipients. Under the proposed rule, the administration could share recipients’ immigration status, Social Security numbers, addresses, and other sensitive personal information with other federal agencies like the Department of Homeland Security, or potentially with private entities.
The states contend that the policy violates federal privacy laws and exceeds the agency’s legal authority. They argue that Congress assigned responsibility for determining eligibility to the states and sharply limited the federal government’s oversight authority over the program. The lawsuit describes the proposed data sharing as an “extravagant claims of authority” and a “gross breach of personal privacy.”
The Trump administration defends the data-sharing initiative as necessary to combat fraud. A notice published in the Federal Register on June 23 stated that the Administration for Children and Families needed to share records to “ensure compliance with all TANF program requirements” and “the requirement to verify TANF recipients’ citizenship and immigration status.” A federal government lawyer previously said such moves were largely in response to news reports about possible fraud, and President Trump signed an executive order in March to create a task force to find fraud and stop noncitizens from getting federal cash benefits.
The states joining the lawsuit include Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin, along with New York and the District of Columbia. The governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania have also signed onto the suit.
“Instead of helping families struggling with the rising cost of living, this administration is trying to turn antipoverty programs against the people they’re supposed to serve,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport criticized the administration for using the program “as a tool for harassing immigrants.”
The case represents the latest clash between the Trump administration and states over the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. Created in 1996 as a major overhaul of federal antipoverty programs, TANF provides more than $16 billion annually to states, the District of Columbia, and tribal governments in the form of grants. States have broad discretion in how they use the money, deploying it for cash assistance, job training, and other services to help low-income families.
Earlier this year, a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from withholding TANF funding from a handful of Democratic-controlled states after the federal government claimed there was “reason to believe” those states were granting benefits to people in the country illegally. That injunction halted an attempt to freeze more than $10 billion for TANF and related programs.
The states argue that the proposed data-sharing rule would create a chilling effect, discouraging eligible families from seeking essential aid due to fear of surveillance and immigration enforcement. The lawsuit contends that the Administration for Children and Families lacks the legal authority to unilaterally expand its oversight of state TANF programs or to disclose recipient information that has long been protected by confidentiality requirements.
This data-sharing dispute is part of a broader pattern under the Trump administration. The administration has pursued unprecedented access to federal benefit data across agencies. Earlier legal challenges have addressed efforts to share Medicaid data with immigration authorities and demands for information about food assistance recipients. Privacy advocates and state officials have raised concerns about the potential consequences of compiling sensitive personal information about vulnerable populations.
The federal Administration for Children and Families declined to comment on the lawsuit. The agency oversees the TANF program and issued the June notice expanding how federal officials can access and share recipient data. The case will proceed in federal court in Washington, where judges will weigh whether the administration exceeded its authority in proposing the data-sharing arrangement and whether the policy violates federal privacy protections that have governed the program for decades.