This story was produced as part of the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. It first appeared at cpr.org.
The federal government is freezing some childcare and food funds to Colorado, the latest salvo in the Trump Administration’s campaign against the Democratic-led state.
An OMB official confirmed that the Administration has frozen funding as of Monday for the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and the Social Services Block Grant program to Colorado and four other Democratic-led states.
The federal government cited concerns that benefits were fraudulently going to non-citizens, but officials did not point to any specific Colorado examples.
The OMB official said more than $300 million in federal funds to Colorado for child care, food aid and other social services would be frozen. In total, $10 billion in funding for the programs was frozen for Colorado, California, Illinois, Minnesota and New York.
A spokesperson for Gov. Jared Polis said that the state has not been formally informed of the funding freeze. “These resources support families in need and help them access food and much more. If true, it would be awful to see the federal government targeting the most needy families and children this way.”
In a social media post, Sen. John Hickenlooper wrote the funding freeze is happening at a time of rising costs for Americans. “President Trump thinks this is a game, but these are people’s lives.”
The freeze was not tied to any specific event, but seems to be the latest pressure move against the state as the Trump Administration has been pushing Colorado to turn former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters to federal custody so she can be released from prison. Peters was convicted by a jury of state crimes and sentenced to nine years in prison for her involvement in allowing unauthorized access to her county’s election machines.
Trump issued a pardon to Peters, but it does not apply to state crimes.
In a New Year’s Eve post, Trump wrote that he wished the “Scumbag Governor” and “the disgusting ‘Republican’ (RINO!) DA … only the worse. May they rot in Hell.”
Trump vetoed a bill led by GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert that would make it easier for local entities in an area of Colorado that voted for Trump to fund a pipeline to deliver clean drinking water. The House is expected to vote on Thursday to try and override the veto.
Trump also took steps to dismantle a premier climate and weather research center in Boulder, and rejected a request for a FEMA declaration to help people in northwest Colorado recover from wildfires and in southwestern Colorado recover from flooding. (Also, areas that supported Trump.) The Administration has also canceled energy and transportation grants to the state since denying the federal government’s request to turn over or release Peters.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
