A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration on Friday from cutting off more than $10 billion in social services and child care funding to five Democrat-led states over fraud concerns, two days after the states filed a lawsuit challenging the freeze as unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, issued a 14-day temporary restraining order in response to the lawsuit filed by state attorneys general in California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York.

"This relief is preliminary in nature and is designed to protect the status quo while plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction is briefed and decided," Subramanian wrote in a two-page order.

Subramanian found that the Democrat-led states showed "good cause" in arguing that the funding freeze would have "immediate and devastating impacts."

The Department of Health and Human Services had sought to cut off the five states from access to more than $7 billion from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which provides cash to low-income families with children; $2.4 billion from the Child Care and Development Fund, which subsidizes child care for eligible parents; and about $870 million from the Social Services Block Grant program.

Administration cites fraud concerns in funding freeze

The funding pauses were announced via letters from HHS's Administration for Children and Families to each state sent Tuesday, citing concerns that benefits were fraudulently going to "illegal aliens."

"These concerns have been heightened by recent federal prosecutions and additional allegations that substantial portions of federal resources were fraudulently diverted away from the American families they were intended to assist," ACF Assistant Secretary Alex Adams wrote in each letter to the states.

HHS said its Administration for Children and Families has identified concerns indicating the benefits "may have been improperly provided to individuals who are not eligible under federal law."

The administration told states to provide the names, Social Security numbers and other personally identifying details of the programs' beneficiaries since at least 2022, plus information about subcontractors and program providers dating back to 2019. For the child care program, the government is requesting attendance records but without personal information for the children or their families.

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told CBS News earlier this week the impacted states "are not affected because they're Democratic," but because they allegedly "refuse to cooperate with developing plans that would end the fraud."

"The best way to help poor families is to end the fraud so that the money that is available for them. And that's what we're doing," Kennedy said.

States challenge freeze as unconstitutional political retribution

In their lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court, the five states alleged that HHS exceeded its authority by withholding congressionally approved funds, arguing that the agency failed to provide a "legitimate justification" for the funding freeze or evidence to support its fraud claims.

The states further argued that the freeze was intended to pressure them into turning over documents related to the use of funding for the affected programs within two weeks, including "personally identifying information of millions of their residents." They said that it was "an impossible timeline."

"Defendants have publicly stoked allegations of fraud, including Plaintiff States purportedly providing unlawful benefits to undocumented immigrants, regardless of whether they have been substantiated," the lawsuit stated, arguing that the Trump administration has "used those speculative allegations as a pretextual justification to punish perceived political enemies."

New York Attorney General Letitia James, who led the coalition in pursuing legal action against HHS, said in a statement that she "will not allow this administration to play political games with the resources families need to help make ends meet."

California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who has sued the second Trump administration 53 times, said the administration provided no evidence to support claims of widespread fraud or the misuse of taxpayer dollars in California.

"They have not one shred, not one shred of evidence, and to turn off the funding with no justification," Bonta said. "It's unlawful, and it's also petty."

Minnesota fraud scandal looms over dispute

The agency's action appeared to build on its decision a week earlier to freeze $185 million in annual child care funds to Minnesota following allegations of widespread fraud in the state's social services programs.

Focus intensified around the federal government's child care subsidy program after a pro-Trump influencer posted a video last month claiming that day care centers operated by Somali residents in Minneapolis had committed up to $100 million in fraud.

Conservative news and commentary outlets had already been amplifying earlier social service fraud allegations that involved Somali defendants. Seventy-eight people have been charged since 2022, and 57 convicted, after federal prosecutors said the nonprofit group Feeding Our Future stole $250 million from a program meant to feed children in need during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Deputy Health Secretary Jim O'Neill stated on December 31 that he had asked Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to provide a comprehensive audit of child care centers in Minnesota, covering records of attendance, licenses, complaints, investigations and inspections.

Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee, announced on January 5 that he would not run for a third term in a bid to focus on resolving the issues. He has defended his administration's handling of fraud in state programs.

Administration vows to appeal ruling

Following the ruling, HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O'Neill said the agency would comply with the court order but vowed to continue fighting.

"To prevent fraud, we asked states to provide receipts before sending taxpayer money for child care," O'Neill wrote on X after the ruling. "Five blue states sued and an activist Biden-appointed judge just ordered us to stop asking."

"What are they afraid of?" O'Neill added.

"We will comply with the court, but we will fight. We will appeal. We will keep asking questions," the Trump administration official wrote. "We will stop the fraud."

"For too long, Democrat-led states and Governors have been complicit in allowing massive amounts of fraud to occur under their watch. Under the Trump administration, we are ensuring that federal taxpayer dollars are being used for legitimate purposes," HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon previously told the Washington Examiner.

Ruth Friedman, a senior fellow at The Century Foundation who oversaw child care programs for President Joe Biden's administration, said on a call with reporters Wednesday that some of the information requested could be a challenge to assemble because the federal government does not now require it.

Elliot Haspel, a senior fellow at Capita, a think tank that focuses on family issues, told reporters that even if states eventually get the money, delays could result in layoffs or closures at child care centers, and that would hurt families that pay the full cost for care as well as those who receive subsidies.

"You can create chaos very quickly," he said, "and the harm may roll on the longer it happens."

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in a statement Friday he was "pleased with the court's decision."

"There is no justification for this attempted funding freeze," Raoul said. "It is a cruel and illegal attempt by the Trump administration to play politics with the lives of children and low-income families."