Office of the
Illinois Attorney General
Kwame Raoul

Chicago — Attorney General Kwame Raoul, as part of a coalition of 23 states, submitted a comment letter opposing a rule proposed by the Trump administration that would impose sweeping new unlawful and unconstitutional requirements for federal grants. The proposed rule would allow the administration to cancel federal funding at any time, impose conditions on funding and politicize the process for awarding grants. In doing so, it threatens billions of dollars of federal funding that benefits the health and welfare of the people of Illinois.

In their comment letter, Raoul and the coalition assert that the administration’s unprecedented assertion of control over federal funding, through the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), is unlawful and is not authorized by Congress.

“This proposed rule is another attempt by the Trump administration to extort states into accepting the administration’s policy agenda,” Raoul said. “It is one of the most sweeping and brazen attempts by this administration to unlawfully target federal funding to states. The rule would allow federal grants to be canceled on a whim and would politicize the awarding of billions of dollars for crucial projects and programs, including those critical to public health, infrastructure, education, housing and scientific research. I stand in strong opposition to this rule, and I will continue to fight any reckless and illegal efforts that threaten this essential funding.”

The proposed rule would create a new regime that allows the administration to stop funding projects at any time if it determines the project no longer furthers its priorities. Additionally, federal agencies would now be allowed to add new funding conditions at any point in a project, making it difficult for fund recipients to plan and execute projects that benefit the public. The proposed rule would put at risk critical multi-year projects such as bridge and roadway repair and replacement, flooding mitigation projects, and monitoring of disease outbreaks by state health agencies.

Raoul and the coalition note that instead of experts deciding the best projects that serve Americans, the proposed rule would politicize federal funding by requiring that a political appointee review discretionary funding awards. These appointees could reject any projects that they deem “promote anti-American values.” To accept critical funding, states would be required to sign onto the administration’s social policy agenda concerning underserved minority populations, immigrants and LGBTQ+ individuals.

The rule also threatens federally funded scientific research, including the development of treatments for chronic diseases. Such research often takes years and would be severely impaired if the researchers could lose funding at any moment with little notice. Additionally, under the rule, federal agencies would be required to prioritize agency discretion over scientific peer review, further politicizing scientific research. The rule also would put significant limitations on the ability of scientists to use federal funding to attend conferences and publish their research findings, stifling scientific collaborations that lead to new discoveries.

In their comment letter, Raoul and the coalition assert that the sweeping control over federal funding asserted by OMB in the proposed rule is not authorized by Congress and is likely to be applied in vague and arbitrary ways, punishing those who are disfavored by the Trump administration. They argue that allowing the federal government to stop funding or change the conditions of funding at any point during a project or program will raise costs and undermine the states’ abilities to complete critical federally funded projects. The coalition also argues that the proposed rule could cause agencies to suspend or cancel programs approved by Congress, in violation of the Constitution.

The proposed rule is yet another effort by the Trump administration to put unconstitutional limits on federal funding. Today’s comment furthers Attorney General Raoul’s efforts to fight illegal federal actions that threaten essential federal funding. In January 2025, Attorney General Raoul co-led a coalition of 22 other attorneys general in suing to stop the implementation of a new federal policy that would have categorically withheld trillions of dollars in essential funding, impacting a vast array of important public services that states provide. In March 2025, Raoul won a preliminary injunction blocking the policy, which was later largely affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit.

Joining Raoul in sending the letter are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin, along with the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania.