PHOENIX — Arizona joined a multistate lawsuit against the Trump administration on Tuesday after it cut billions in federal funding and grants, Attorney General Kris Mayes announced.
Mayes filed the lawsuit against President Donald Trump as he attempts to use a single regulation to slash critical funding, according to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.
The controversial clause allows a grant to be cut if it “no longer effectuates … agency priorities,” according to Mayes.
Why did Arizona Attorney General file the lawsuit?
The cuts affect funding for combatting crime, education, clean water, medical and scientific research, public health and food insecurity, according to Mayes.
“The Trump administration unilaterally and arbitrarily stripped those grants away from the states illegally and it did so (by) using a clause in a regulation, that it is not allowed to use in this way,” Mayes told KTAR News 92.3 FM.
Recently, the Arizona Department of Economic Security laid off about 500 people due to Trump’s cuts, according to Mayes.
Tens of millions of dollars are at stake that go toward funding Arizona universities and business communities, the Arizona attorney general added.
“The Trump administration’s slash-and-burn approach to federal grant funding has left Arizona communities scrambling to pick up the pieces,” Mayes said.
Mayes argues that Trump’s decision to invoke the clause to terminate grants based on an agency’s priorities is unlawful.
The regulation was never meant to be applied in this manner and doesn’t authorize federal agencies to slash funding, according to the lawsuit.
This latest filing brings the number of lawsuits Arizona has joined against the Trump administration to 19.
KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Balin Overstolz-McNair contributed to this story.
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