Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has secured a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration’s attempt to gut essential health, education, and social service programs for low-income families. In July, Nessel joined 20 other attorneys general in challenging the federal government’s reinterpretation of a decades-old law governing access to social services. On Wednesday, a federal court granted the coalition’s request for a preliminary injunction, blocking sweeping new rules that threatened to impose substantial and unnecessary administrative burdens on states, or face a loss of funding, for programs like Head Start, Title X family planning clinics, food banks, domestic violence shelters, adult education, and community health centers.
“I am relieved that this decision by the court ensures that families in Michigan and across the country can continue to rely on these essential social services without unlawful directives,” Nessel said. “I will continue to defend access to these critical programs and fight against efforts by this administration to strip away support systems our communities depend on.”
Earlier this summer, four federal agencies – the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Education, Labor, and Justice – issued a coordinated set of directives abruptly redefining longstanding policy under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA). For nearly 30 years, Republican and Democratic administrations alike interpreted PRWORA to allow states to offer vital public health, education, and anti-poverty programs regardless of immigration status. The Trump administration’s sudden reversal would have forced states to impose immigration status verification on countless services, threatening catastrophic funding losses and program closures.
The court’s decision halts implementation of those new directives in the plaintiff states while litigation proceeds, ensuring that millions of families can continue to access critical services without fear of denial or disruption. With this ruling, the judge acknowledged that the administration likely violated the Administrative Procedure Act and the Constitution by issuing sweeping new mandates without lawful rulemaking, grossly misreading PRWORA, and failing to consider the devastating impacts on states and communities.
In Michigan, the PRWORA notices would have impacted dozens of programs, including the Title X Family Planning Program, the Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH) program, and several employment services programs.
Joining Nessel in this lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
“I am relieved that this decision by the court ensures that families in Michigan and across the country can continue to rely on these essential social services without unlawful directives,” Nessel said. “I will continue to defend access to these critical programs and fight against efforts by this administration to strip away support systems our communities depend on.”
Earlier this summer, four federal agencies – the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Education, Labor, and Justice – issued a coordinated set of directives abruptly redefining longstanding policy under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA). For nearly 30 years, Republican and Democratic administrations alike interpreted PRWORA to allow states to offer vital public health, education, and anti-poverty programs regardless of immigration status. The Trump administration’s sudden reversal would have forced states to impose immigration status verification on countless services, threatening catastrophic funding losses and program closures.
The court’s decision halts implementation of those new directives in the plaintiff states while litigation proceeds, ensuring that millions of families can continue to access critical services without fear of denial or disruption. With this ruling, the judge acknowledged that the administration likely violated the Administrative Procedure Act and the Constitution by issuing sweeping new mandates without lawful rulemaking, grossly misreading PRWORA, and failing to consider the devastating impacts on states and communities.
In Michigan, the PRWORA notices would have impacted dozens of programs, including the Title X Family Planning Program, the Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH) program, and several employment services programs.
Joining Nessel in this lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
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