What to know about Trump administration freezing federal child care funds

The Trump administration has said it is freezing child care funds to all states until they provide more verification about the programs in a move fueled by a series of fraud schemes at Minnesota day care centers run by Somali residents.

All 50 states will be impacted by the review, but the Republican administration is focusing most of its ire on the blue state of Minnesota and is calling for an audit of some of its centers.

Minnesota Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a statement Wednesday that he was ''exploring all our legal options to ensure that critical childcare services do not get abruptly slashed based on pretext and grandstanding.''

It is unclear how much more robust the verification process for states will be than it already has been.

Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Jim O'Neill called the decision a response to ''blatant fraud that appears to be rampant in Minnesota and across the country'' in a social media post announcing the change on Tuesday.

Here are some things to know about these moves:

More verification needed for all states to get child care funds

In his social media post on Tuesday, O'Neill said all Administration for Children and Families payments nationwide would require ''justification and a receipt or photo evidence'' before money is sent, but the HHS spokesperson said Wednesday that the additional verifications only apply to CCDF payments.

Walz says Trump is politicizing the issue

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee, said in a social media post that fraudsters are a serious issue that the state has spent years cracking down on but that this is a political move that is part of ''Trump's long game.''

State Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy condemned the move in a statement Wednesday.

''Republicans are playing sick games and winning devastating prizes,'' Murphy said. ''And now, tens of thousands of Minnesota families will pay the price as Donald's Trump's agents strip away crucial funding.''

The administration launched efforts in recent weeks to track down fraud in other programs in Minnesota and is looking at fraud in blue states such as California and New York, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in an interview with ''Fox & Friends'' on Wednesday.

The administration will continue to send officers to investigate ''potential fraud sites'' in Minnesota and deport undocumented immigrants, Leavitt said, adding that the Department of Homeland Security is considering plans to denaturalize citizens.

The Department of Labor is also investigating the state's unemployment insurance program, Leavitt said. The administration this month threatened to withhold SNAP food aid funding from Democratic-controlled states, including Minnesota, unless they provide information about people receiving assistance.

Attention focused on Minnesota

The announcement came a day after U.S. Homeland Security officials conducted a fraud investigation in Minneapolis, questioning workers at unidentified businesses. Trump has criticized Walz's administration over the cases, capitalizing on them to target the Somali diaspora in the state, which has the largest Somali population in the U.S.

Meanwhile, there are concerns about harassment that home-based day care providers and members of the Somali community nationwide might face amid the vitriol, including Trump's comments earlier this month referring to Somali immigrants as ''garbage." Washington state Attorney General Nick Brown released a statement saying, ''Showing up on someone's porch, threatening, or harassing them isn't an investigation. Neither is filming minors who may be in the home.''

Minnesota child care centers are alarmed

Maria Snider, director of the Rainbow Child Development Center and vice president of advocacy group Minnesota Child Care Association, said fear is rising among both families — many of which are living paycheck to paycheck — and child care centers that rely on the federal funding. Without child care system tuition, centers may have to lay off teachers and shut down classrooms, she said.

In Minnesota, the application process for the funding is complex and multilayered, Snider said. Her own child care center has been subjected to random audits, she said, and all centers are required to submit to licensing visits by officials.

''I don't know what else I would provide,'' she said.

He said the center is routinely subject to checks by state regulators to ensure they remain in compliance with their license.

''There's no fraud happening here,'' Hasan told The Associated Press. ''We are open every day, and we have our records to show that this place is open.''

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