Attorney General Kathy Jennings today joined a coalition of attorneys general suing the Trump administration to stop an order withholding of trillions of dollars in funding that every state in the country relies on to provide essential services to millions of Americans.

“This order was callous, craven, and careless,” said Attorney General Jennings. “The White House is toying with people’s lives and livelihoods - including millions of Americans who voted for Donald Trump. We’re not going to stand by and wait to see what kind of havoc the President wants to wreak. We’re suing. See you in court.”

The new policy, issued by the President’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB), puts an indefinite pause on the majority of federal assistance to states. The policy would immediately jeopardize state programs that provide critical health and childcare services to families in need, deliver support to public schools, combat hate crimes and violence against women, provide life-saving disaster relief to states, and more.

In a bizarre and extreme notice issue late last evening, the OMB directs all federal agencies to indefinitely pause the majority of federal assistance funding and loans to states and other entities beginning at 5:00 pm today, January 28. As AG Jennings and the coalition note in their lawsuit, OMB’s policy has caused immediate chaos and uncertainty for millions of Americans who rely on state programs that receive these federal funds. Essential community health centers, addiction and mental health treatment programs, services for people with disabilities, and other critical health services are jeopardized by OMB’s policy.

AG Jennings and the coalition also argue that jeopardizing state funds will put Americans in danger by depriving law enforcement of much-needed resources. OMB’s policy would pause support for the U.S. Department of Justice’s initiatives to combat hate crimes and violence against women, support community policing, and provide services to victims of crimes.

While the administration has attempted to walk back the scope and meaning of the OMB policy, states have already reported that funds have been frozen, jeopardizing services like Medicaid across the country. As part of their lawsuit, Jennings and the coalition argue that OMB’s policy violates the Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act by imposing a government-wide stop to spending without any regard for the laws and regulations that govern each source of federal funding. The attorneys general argue that the president cannot decide to unilaterally override laws governing federal spending, and that OMB’s policy unconstitutionally overrides Congress’s power to decide how federal funds are spent.

Also joining the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.