Pennsylvania Sues Trump Admin for Blocking $1.2 Billion in Funding

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro claims the Trump administration’s funding freeze defies legal authority and jeopardizes billions in state-allocated federal aid.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro seen here speaking during a campaign rally for Vice President Kamala Harris in Ambler, Pa., on July 29, 2024. Hannah Beier/Getty Images

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s funding freeze, accusing several federal agencies and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) of unlawfully withholding more than $1.2 billion in federal funding owed to Pennsylvania agencies, with billions more at risk.

The lawsuit, filed on Feb. 13 at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, alleges that the agencies’ actions violate the U.S. Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act by exceeding the agencies’ legal authority and failing to comply with multiple court orders directing them to restore access to the frozen funds.

“Over the past two weeks, my team and I have engaged with our Congressional delegation to try to restore access to all the federal funding Pennsylvania has been promised under the law–but despite those efforts, state agencies remain unable to draw down these critical dollars,” Shapiro said in a statement.

Pennsylvania agencies were unable to access $1.2 billion in federal grant funds, with another $900 million under undefined federal review as of Feb. 12, according to Shapiro’s office and the lawsuit. The funds were intended for environmental cleanup, transportation infrastructure, economic development, and low-income home weatherization projects.

Shapiro further contends that at least $3.1 billion in congressionally appropriated funds obligated to Pennsylvania through 2026 have been restricted in some way, along with another $2.69 billion appropriated for 2027 to 2037 for an abandoned mine program.

“In all, then, federal agencies’ recent funding suspensions have jeopardized at least $5.5 billion that has been committed to Pennsylvania,” the complaint alleges. “Despite two temporary restraining orders requiring federal agencies to restore access to suspended funds, federal agencies continue to deny Pennsylvania agencies funding that they are entitled to receive.”

Shapiro argues that these funding suspensions violate federal law because the agencies are refusing to distribute funds that Congress had already appropriated and legally obligated to the state.

The lawsuit claims that this action exceeds executive authority, violates the U.S. Constitution’s spending clause, and is arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act.

The White House called the lawsuit “an extension of the Left’s resistance” against President Donald Trump’s agenda of government reform, which includes identifying and rooting out fraudulent or wasteful spending.

“Radical Leftists can either choose to swim against the tide and reject the overwhelming will of the people, or they can get on board and work with President Trump to advance his wildly popular agenda,“ Harrison Fields, White House principal deputy press secretary, told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement. ”These lawsuits are nothing more than an extension of the Left’s resistance—and the Trump Administration is ready to face them in court.”

Two judges have temporarily blocked the administration from enforcing its funding freeze. The rulings stem from separate lawsuits—one filed by Democratic attorneys general from 22 states and the District of Columbia and a second case brought by a coalition of private organizations.

Both sets of plaintiffs sued after the OMB issued a memo on Jan. 27 freezing potentially trillions of dollars in federal spending on grants, loans, and other financial assistance while that spending is under review for compliance with Trump’s executive orders. While the Trump administration later withdrew the memo, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump’s executive orders on federal funding “remain in full force and effect,” with the administration maintaining the funding freeze.

In one case, Judge John McConnell of the Rhode Island District Court ruled on Feb. 10 that the 22 states and the District of Columbia—which are seeking a permanent injunction—could face harm if the funds are not distributed. McConnell issued a temporary restraining order directing the Trump administration to immediately restore frozen funding until the court hears and decides the states’ request for a preliminary injunction.

In the second case, U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan on Feb. 3 granted the plaintiffs’ request for a temporary restraining order, instructing the Trump administration to release any disbursements on open awards that were paused under directives outlined either in the memo or “under a different name.”

Trump has criticized the rulings, telling reporters at the Oval Office on Feb. 11 that the funding freeze and related review aim to “weed out the corruption.”

“It seems hard to believe that a judge could say, ‘We don’t want you to do that,’ so maybe we have to look at the judges,” Trump said.