New York among 13 states under federal review, as Trump vows to cut off 'sanctuary' funding

WASHINGTON — New York and a dozen other Democrat-led states are part of a federal funding review ordered by the White House’s budget office, as President Donald Trump vows to block the flow of funds to states as early as Sunday that do not fully cooperate with his immigration crackdown.

The Office of Management and Budget, in a memo sent to federal departments last week, ordered agency leaders to provide a detailed listing of all federal grants and funds given to 14 Democratic states and Washington, D.C.

“This information will be used to better understand the scope of funding in certain states and localities in order to facilitate efforts to reduce the improper and fraudulent use of those funds through administrative means or legislative proposals to Congress,” reads the Jan. 20 memo obtained by Newsday, first reported by Real Clear Politics.

Only the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs were exempt from the request, according to the three-page memo.

The sweeping review comes after Trump in a Jan. 13 speech to the Detroit Economic Club said his administration planned to stop “making any payments to sanctuary cities or states having sanctuary cities” starting Feb. 1.

The White House and OMB did not respond to questions from Newsday about the logistics of Trump’s plan and whether his threat to freeze funding on Sunday applied to all federal funds or only certain programs.

Trump has already moved to freeze funding for other New York projects and programs, including $3.4 billion for child care and social services programs and the $16 billion Gateway Tunnel Project, which project leaders have warned will stop construction of the massive Hudson River rail tunnel starting Feb. 6 if funds are not released.

Legal threat

Gov. Kathy Hochul has said the state will sue the Trump administration if it blocks additional funding over New York's immigration policies.

The administration has taken aim at the state’s 2019 Green Light Law, which allows individuals to apply for a driver’s license regardless of citizenship status. The law also requires the state Department of Motor Vehicles to notify the license holder "when immigration enforcement agencies request" their information.

“This is just a threat to intimidate states like New York into bowing into submission, and that is something we'll never do," Hochul told reporters in Albany on Jan. 15. "So I say this: You touch any more money from the State of New York, we'll see you in court."

New York received about $96.7 billion in federal funding last fiscal year, representing about 39% of the state’s overall budget, according to a state analysis.

Hochul’s office has not received any follow-up information from the Trump administration about which programs would be at risk of losing funding if he moves ahead with his plan.

"As the Governor has made clear, our office stands at the ready to protect New Yorkers from potential federal funding cuts,” Hochul spokesperson Emma Wallner said in a statement to Newsday.

Court precedents

Hofstra University constitutional law professor James Sample told Newsday the state could have the legal upper hand over the Trump administration, noting federal court rulings over the past year that have ordered the administration to restore funding to more than a dozen so-called sanctuary jurisdictions the administration sought to penalize.

“Trump’s previous attempts to cut funding to sanctuary jurisdictions have consistently been struck down” by federal judges, Sample said in an email. “In both his first term and more recent efforts, federal judges ruled that imposing new funding conditions on jurisdictions without congressional approval is presidential overreach.”

Sample underscored that it is Congress that has the constitutional power of the purse to allocate funding for states, and it is limited on the types of conditions it can set for how the money is spent. Lawmakers cannot impose coercive conditions on spending, Sample said.

The other states under review according to the OMB memo are: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.

All of the states except Vermont are run by Democratic governors.

By Laura Figueroa Hernandez

laura.figueroa@newsday.com@Laura_Figueroa

Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.