ACLU, et al. v. U.S. Dep't of Health and Human Services

The ACLU of Colorado along with our partners filed a FOIA lawsuit against HHS for failing to respond to a FOIA request seeking transparency about the Trump administration’s unprecedented restrictions on federal childcare and family assistance funding.

On July 20, 2026, we joined with the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Illinois, the National Women’s Law Center and the National Center for Law and Economic Justice in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This lawsuit followed a FOIA request submitted in March seeking records concerning the adoption, implementation, and enforcement of the nationwide Defend the Spend policy and the sweeping five-state funding freeze targeting Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) dollars.

In late December and early January, HHS froze access to more than $10 billion in these funds for California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York, while imposing new burdensome documentation and approval requirements on states nationwide. The FOIA request included a request for communication records between federal officials and YouTube creator Nick Shirley, whose viral video was publicly amplified and credited by senior administration officials as the basis for the restrictions.

The administration failed to release any records or information in response to the FOIA and publicly reversed the funding freeze in an apparent attempt to avoid being required to produce officials’ communications about these attacks in other pending litigation. This refusal heightens the need for transparency into how the Defend the Spend policy and funding freeze were adopted and who was involved.

Civil Rights Groups File Lawsuit Against HHS for Withholding Information About Childcare Funding Restrictions, July 20, 2026.

"Civil Rights Groups Sue Trump Administration Over Childcare Funding Restrictions," The Guardian, July 20, 2026.

"Civil Rights Groups File Lawsuit Seeking Records on Trump Administration's Attempt to Freeze Social Services Funding," The Imprint, July 20, 2026.