Minneapolis, Minnesota - Minnesota on Monday sued in a bid to stop President Donald Trump's administration from attempting to withhold $243 million in Medicaid funding.
Filed at a federal court in Minneapolis, the lawsuit requested a temporary restraining order be issued to block the Trump administration from withholding Medicaid funding until legal questions can be answered.
In particular, the lawsuit made the case that the cuts threatened by Washington would see low-income families go without healthcare.
It came after Vice President JD Vance last week announced that the Trump administration is "committed" to stomping out Medicare and Medicaid fraud in Minnesota and will temporarily halt funding in order to do so.
"We have decided to temporarily halt certain amounts of Medicaid funding that are going to the state of Minnesota," Vance said during a news conference last week.
"For too many people have gotten rich by taking what is best of the American spirit and getting rich off of it instead of providing services to kids who need it," he claimed.
Trump slammed for "punishing" people in need of healthcare
Vance's attack came amid ongoing attempts by the Trump administration to use accusations of widespread fraud in Minnesota to damage the Democratic Party and launch racist attacks on the state's Somali population.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced the lawsuit in a statement on Monday, slamming the Trump administration for hurting the state's most vulnerable people.
"Trump's attempts to look like he's fighting fraud only punish the people and families who most need the high-quality, affordable healthcare that all Minnesotans deserve," Ellison said.
"As long as I am attorney general, I will do everything in my power to defend our tax dollars, both from fraudsters and from the Trump administration’s cruelty."