Governor Josh Shapiro of Abington Township announced that he is suing the Trump Administration alongside 19 other states and Washington DC “to stop them from arbitrarily canceling funding owed to Pennsylvania,” he said in a post on Bluesky on Tuesday, June 24.
The complaint, which was filed on Tuesday, accuses the Trump administration of terminating billions in already awarded funding to state and local governments, research institutions, universities and more.
In February, Trump’s administration via DOGE issued an executive order announcing abrupt cuts to federal aid. The new lawsuit seeks to limit the Trump administration from relying on a clause in the federal regulation to cut grants that don’t align with its priorities.
“In effectuating this directive, Agency Defendants now assert—for the first time—that the Clause means something completely new: That the Clause permits agencies to terminate grant awards when the agency simply changes its mind,” the lawsuit states. “With the stroke of a pen, federal agencies have deprived States of critical funding they rely on to combat violent crime and protect public safety, equip law enforcement, educate students, safeguard public health, protect clean drinking water, conduct life-saving medical and scientific research, address food insecurity experienced by students in school, ensure access to unemployment benefits for workers who lose their jobs, and much more.”
Attorney Generals listed in the complaint represent Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.
Earlier this month, Shapiro sued the Trump administration in an effort to restore $13 million in funds for food banks and farmers that the U.S. Department of Agriculture eliminated earlier this year. In April, Shapiro jointly filed a lawsuit over the Trump administration’s cuts to AmeriCorps. In February, Shapiro filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s freeze of federal funding.
From Shapiro’s post:
Today, I'm suing the Trump Administration alongside 19 other states and Washington DC to stop them from arbitrarily canceling funding owed to Pennsylvania.
— Governor Josh Shapiro (@governor.pa.gov) June 24, 2025 at 4:05 PM
The 80-page complaint can be found below:
Photos: Alex Kent/Chip Somodevilla/Getty