Maryland joins 2 more lawsuits against the Trump administration

Maryland joined 24 Democrat-led jurisdictions that sued the Trump administration Monday to block a new policy that would allow a broad range of federal authorities to access personal information on families that receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families payments.

In a separate suit Monday, Maryland was one of 25 jurisdictions to sue the administration over the imposition of what it called “unlawful” tariffs. They are just the latest in the dozens of legal actions against the federal government by Maryland and by the other states.

The TANF lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia, claims a new Administration for Children and Families’(ACF) policy would let federal agencies access data on millions of residents who receive the assistance. The new policy is scheduled to go into effect Aug. 11 and would provide access to Social Security numbers, marital history, immigration status and more.

The program, which is under the federal Department of Health and Human Services, provides about $16 billion annually to states for low-income families.

Maryland receives about $228 million under the program, according to the office of Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown (D). In fiscal 2026, a monthly average of more than 38,000 participants (about 27,000 children and nearly 12,000 adults) were in the state.

“Families who rely on TANF to keep a roof over their children’s heads should not have to fear that their personal information will be shared across the federal government or used to target them,” Brown said in a statement. “My office will not stand by while this Administration unlawfully exposes Marylanders’ private data in an effort to intimidate vulnerable families out of benefits they are legally entitled to receive.”

Brown and the other attorneys general in the suit want the court to throw out the proposed rule and ensure the confidentiality of the personal information.

An ACF representative said in an email Monday evening that the agency doesn’t comment “on matters subject to ongoing litigation.”

Besides the agency, the lawsuit lists Assistant Secretary Alex J. Adams, the Office of Family Assistance and its director, David Swegle, and HHS and its secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as defendants.

The lawsuit claims a June 23 legal notice from HHS made the “extravagant” claim that ACF had authority to not only oversee the TANF programs in states, but to also share recipients’ data with other agencies to verify their “citizenship or immigration status in records maintained by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.”

The lawsuit claims that states, not the federal government, are in charge of verifying eligibility of applicants. It says the federal government’s policy violates the Administrative Procedure Act and the Spending Clause of the Constitution by ignoring restrictions on data sharing in the low-income programs and enacting new, arbitrary conditions on federal funding.

According to the suit, the program’s recent use of its system of records could be used for three purposes:

• To determine whether grantees are meeting certain requirements;
• To compile information used in the report to Congress; and
• To perform research on the caseload dynamics and employment trajectories of TANF recipients.

“Nothing in the TANF statute or any other act supports ACF’s extravagant claims of authority and gross breach of personal privacy,” the suit says. “There is no provision of the TANF statute that expressly authorizes ACF to enforce all provisions of the TANF statute against the States; indeed, the statute says precisely the opposite.”

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Besides Maryland and the District of Columbia, the other jurisdictions in Monday’s suit include the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

Those same states were part of the lawsuit against the Trump administration for imposing 10% and 12.5% tariffs last month on the European Union and 59 other countries that trade with the U.S.

The president imposed those tariffs under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that’s used to combat “unfair trade practices” by other countries. The tariffs imposed in July affect over ​99% of U.S. ⁠imports.

The states’ lawsuit, which also includes North Carolina, was filed in the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York. It follows a May ruling that said the president’s 10% global tariff was unlawful. The 2-1 decision in that case also noted the president’s decision exceeded his authority.

But Trump has continued to pursue new tariffs, which he has made part of his foreign policy initiative since his second term in office.

“Every time a court strikes down these tariffs, this Administration comes back with a new scheme to impose unlawful costs on Maryland families,” Brown said. “My Office will not stand by while Marylanders are left footing the bill for groceries and everyday essentials because this Administration operates as if it is above the law.”

Brown’s office has led or joined in nearly three dozen legal actions this year against the Trump administration.