By Ford Turner, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau
HARRISBURG – The Shapiro administration on Thursday sued the federal government over its implementation of President Donald Trump’s executive orders, challenging a freeze of federal funding and saying state agencies can’t access $1.2 billion and face roadblocks on $900 million more.
“The federal government has entered into a contract with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, promising to provide billions of dollars in Congressionally-approved funding,” Mr. Shapiro said in a news release. “With this funding freeze, the Trump administration is breaking that contract.”
Besides the $1.2 billion, the Shapiro administration said that as of Thursday there is another $900 million that requires “an undefined review by federal agencies” before it can be drawn down.
The firestorm over frozen funding broke out with the issuance of a memo by the Office of Management and Budget on Jan. 27, less than a week into Trump’s second presidency. Mr. Shapiro, a Democrat, said the next afternoon that state employees “literally can’t access the payment systems and the computer systems” used to run high-profile federal-state programs.
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