Shapiro lawsuit against Trump Administration ends fed funding freeze

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Governor Josh Shapiro announced that all of the $2.1 billion in Congressionally appropriated federal funding owed to Pennsylvania identified in the filing of his lawsuit against the Trump Administration has been unfrozen.

“Less than two weeks ago, my office filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s illegal freeze of federal funding because of its direct impact on Pennsylvania state government and our work to serve the good people of our commonwealth,” Shapiro said in a statement. “On the day we filed, at least $2.1 billion in federal funding that had been appropriated by Congress and obligated by the federal government to our state agencies was frozen or placed in an undefined review.”

Included was funding to prevent sinkholes and make abandoned mines safe, to plug abandoned wells leaking toxic chemicals into our communities, and to reduce energy costs for homeowners and ensure the water flowing to Pennsylvanians’ faucets is clean and pure.

“As a result of our lawsuit – and our continued pressure on and engagement with the Trump Administration, in which we demanded the Administration comply with the legal injunctions currently in place and made clear that we were ready to seek immediate relief from the courts, every dollar we identified at the filing of our lawsuit is currently unfrozen and once again accessible to Pennsylvania state agencies, in accordance with legal injunctions currently in place,” said Shapiro.

With funding restored, Pennsylvania can resume the programs and infrastructure projects that Shapiro said had been jeopardized by this illegal freeze. Shapiro said some questioned why Pennsylvania would sue the federal government in this matter.

“As I said at the time, legal action was not my first choice – and in fact, after the funding freeze first went into effect in late January, we actively engaged with our Republican Congressional delegation, led by Senator McCormick, and the Trump Administration to get these funds unfrozen,” said Shapiro. “We saw some progress, but despite those efforts – and multiple court orders to release the federal funding – billions of dollars owed to Pennsylvania remained tied up weeks later.”

Inaction by the Trump Administration forced Shapiro to seek and received delegation from the Office of Attorney General to represent the governor’s office and affected state agencies in this litigation.

“Look, you don’t need to be the former Attorney General – or even a lawyer – to get this,” said Shapiro. “This is basic stuff. Kids learn this in grade school. It’s how our Constitution works.

“Congress passed laws that committed billions of dollars to the states for serious needs. The president signed those bills into law. Then, the federal government entered into agreements with state government agencies to get those dollars out into people’s communities. Those agreements are binding.

“To put it simply: a deal is a deal.”

As the Trump Administration is legally required to provide these funds, Shapiro took legal action to force the federal government to unfreeze the funds owed to Pennsylvania.

“So even after we filed our lawsuit 11 days ago, my team and I continued to engage the Department of Justice and Trump Administration directly, said Shapiro. “When I was at the White House on Friday, I repeatedly brought up our frozen federal funding to President Trump’s senior team and cabinet.

“I urged them to follow the law and honor their agreements with Pennsylvania. As a result of that direct engagement, our funding is unfrozen, they are now following the law, and we will continue to press our case,” Shapiro added.

The governor said that with federal funding freed to flow once again to Pennsylvania agencies, the commonwealth can resume the work without the risk of receiving a bill should’ve been paid for by the federal government.

The work includes the following:

• Plugging orphaned and abandoned wells – and creating jobs in the process.
• Cleaning up our waterways, helping farmers deal with runoff that leads into the Chesapeake Bay, and ensuring Pennsylvanians have clean water when they turn on the tap.
• Repairing abandoned mines before they turn into sinkholes and endanger people’s homes and businesses.  Pennsylvania is home to more abandoned mines than any other state in the country, with 140,000 acres still needing to be fixed.
• Reducing utility bills for consumers and make sure rural communities have reliable access to electricity.

Shapiro said that because of Trump’s federal funding freeze, several ongoing projects employing dozens of Pennsylvanians had stopped work.

“These folks can now get back on the job, knowing their governor will continue to have their back,” said Shapiro. “As governor, it’s my job to protect Pennsylvania’s interests – and I will use every tool at my disposal, from legal action to my direct engagement to make sure Pennsylvanians are protected, and the funds that Pennsylvanians rely on every day – the funds that Pennsylvanians pay in federal taxes make their way back to our commonwealth and we receive every federal dollar we’re owed.”