* Background is here if you need it. This is one of three copy and paste letters from Robert Kennedy’s Department of Health and Human Services…
The Trump Administration has made clear its commitment to rooting out fraud, protecting taxpayer dollars, and ensuring program integrity across all federal benefit programs. The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is concerned by the potential for extensive and systemic fraud in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) services that rely on federal funding. These concerns have been heightened by recent federal prosecutions and additional allegations that substantial portions of federal resources were fraudulently diverted away from the American families they were intended to assist. Additionally, ACF has reason to believe that the State of Illinois is illicitly providing illegal aliens with TANF benefits intended for American citizens and lawful permanent residents.
Effective today, ACF is reviewing Illinois’s TANF State Plan for completeness and for program compliance with applicable laws. As a result, ACF is placing the state TANF program on a restricted drawdown in accordance with 2 C.F.R. § 200.339.
The other two letters (here and here), were about the child care program and the Social Services Block Grant.
The governor said yesterday that the impact on Illinois would be about $1 billion.
* First problem. Here’s the federal law referenced above…
§ 200.339 Remedies for noncompliance.
The Federal agency or pass-through entity may implement specific conditions if the recipient or subrecipient fails to comply with the U.S. Constitution, Federal statutes, regulations, or terms and conditions of the Federal award. See § 200.208 for additional information on specific conditions.
Except, the “specific conditions” law lays out the preconditions for imposing harsh penalties…
The Federal agency or pass-through entity may adjust specific conditions in the Federal award based on an analysis of the following factors:
(1) Review of OMB-designated repositories of government-wide data (for example, SAM.gov) or review of its risk assessment (See § 200.206);
(2) The recipient’s or subrecipient’s history of compliance with the terms and conditions of Federal awards;
(3) The recipient’s or subrecipient’s ability to meet expected performance goals as described in § 200.211; or
(4) A determination of whether a recipient or subrecipient has inadequate financial capability to perform the Federal award.
But Secretary Kennedy isn’t presenting any actual evidence or analysis, just vibes.
* The federal government is demanding a ton of information about all three programs in just three weeks. Here’s the social services block grant list…
To aid ACF in a timely review, I am requesting that the State of Illinois provide the complete universe of SSBG administrative data that exist and are in the state’s possession for all grantees, their recipients and subrecipients, for all available years and at least 2022 through 2025. This includes recipient name, address, Social Security Number (if collected), date of birth, A-number (as applicable), and any state identification numbers used for program administration. This information is necessary for ACF to conduct a thorough review of program operations and to assess the extent of any irregularities that may have occurred.
ACF also requests documentation demonstrating that the State of Illinois has verified the eligibility, where applicable, of all recipients and subrecipients of SSBG-funded entities in accordance with the requirements of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, 8 U.S.C. §1611, which limits the eligibility of federal public benefits to United States citizens and qualified aliens. This documentation should include the policies, procedures, system controls, and verification records used by Minnesota to confirm citizenship or qualified alien status during the application and recertification processes.
ACF is requesting a comprehensive list of all organizations, subcontractors, service providers, local agencies, community groups, and any other entities that received SSBG funds from the State of Illinois, directly or indirectly, during the period from 2019 through 2025. For each organization, to the extent the information exists and is in the state’s possession, I request the amount of SSBG funding provided, the purpose for which the funds were awarded, and documentation describing the state’s oversight mechanisms, monitoring activities, and verification processes used to ensure proper use of SSBG dollars.
Emphasis added to show how much of a cut-and-paste job this thing really is.
- Socially DIstant Watcher - Wednesday, Jan 7, 26 @ 1:51 pm:
Never pass up an opportunity to cut funding, especially to states that won’t vote for you anyway.
- JMedwick - Wednesday, Jan 7, 26 @ 2:29 pm:
Quite right SDI. Imagine how much we could save and how much we could redirect to pension payments if JB adopted this approach with downstate districts.
- Google is Your Friend - Wednesday, Jan 7, 26 @ 2:57 pm:
==Unsurprisingly, the feds appear to be getting way ahead of themselves==
A post here yesterday noted that by midday yesterday, no state had reported receiving the supposed letters that they were having funding suspended. Let’s not forget that an inspector general found that during Trump’s first term, the Trump administration was leaking such letters and claims about various issues to conservative media outlets before sending them to states and in some cases didn’t actually send them until asked by the state after media reports.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/07/watchdog-finds-signs-politics-drove-trump-doj-probes-pandemic-nursing-home-deaths-002055
- 40,000 ft - Wednesday, Jan 7, 26 @ 3:06 pm:
Typos happen, proofreading can be a fail, but these technical errors don’t change the fact that there’s about to be a big examination of these programs.
I support this action from the feds to ensure federal program funds go to Americans.
- Demoralized - Wednesday, Jan 7, 26 @ 3:12 pm:
If this were nationwide that would be one thing. But, the fact that he is specifically targeting 5 states led by Democratic Governor’s plainly shows he’s being punitive and that should be unacceptable to everyone. I’m waiting to see if the Illinois Republicans speak up about this or if they will remain silent to the detriment of their own state.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Jan 7, 26 @ 3:26 pm:
===I support this action from the feds to ensure federal program funds go to Americans. ===
Yes, that’s what’s happening. Right.
Meanwhile, people with severe disabilities may be deprived of home care.
- TreeFiddy - Wednesday, Jan 7, 26 @ 3:43 pm:
===But Secretary Kennedy isn’t presenting any actual evidence or analysis, just vibes.==
So his exact same approach to vaccine policy?
- Dance Band on the Titanic - Wednesday, Jan 7, 26 @ 3:50 pm:
Considering that the state of Mississippi has experienced hall-of-fame level social service fraud, I’m surprised they didn’t make the list /s
- 40,000 ft - Wednesday, Jan 7, 26 @ 3:51 pm:
Always using human shields to scare off exams of fraud.
It’s getting old.
Are you saying laws can be broken if enforcement may cause third party harm? That’s weak.
No one wants to harm, but the exams to insure compliance with federal law are important.
- btowntruth from forgottonia - Wednesday, Jan 7, 26 @ 5:10 pm:
===I support this action from the feds to ensure federal program funds go to Americans. ===
Then why isn’t it being done in all 50 states?
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Jan 7, 26 @ 5:28 pm:
===No one wants to harm===
No supporting evidence.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Jan 7, 26 @ 5:29 pm:
===No one wants to harm===
Rauner said the same thing. This, however, is on a much grander scale.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Jan 7, 26 @ 5:30 pm:
…Point being, investigate first, then go in with the guns. That’s what the actual law appears to say.
Instead, they’re cutting off huge amounts of money without any actual evidence of massive fraud in this state.
- 47th Ward - Wednesday, Jan 7, 26 @ 6:03 pm:
===Considering that the state of Mississippi has experienced hall-of-fame level social service fraud…===
Speaking of Hall of Famers, has Brett Favre been released from federal prison yet because of the fraud he was involved in down there?
- JS Mill - Wednesday, Jan 7, 26 @ 7:40 pm:
=That’s weak.=
So is claiming this is about anything more than retribution. And that is getting old.