Press Release  AG Campbell Sues Trump Administration To Protect Massachusetts Residents’ Personal Information

Boston — Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell today joined a coalition of 23 other states and the District of Columbia in suing the Trump administration over unlawful policy changes that would give the administration broad access to the sensitive private information of millions of families receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits. TANF is an essential program created by Congress that funds a wide range of services to assist low-income residents. 

In June 2026, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) issued a notice claiming to dramatically expand its oversight of state TANF programs, including by allowing ACF to share detailed records on TANF recipients with other federal agencies like the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Under ACF’s new policy, TANF recipients’ Social Security numbers, addresses, immigration status, and other sensitive personal data would be illegally shared across the federal government and even potentially with private organizations. 

 AG Campbell and the coalition argue that ACF’s attempt to share millions of people’s data and implement new monitoring of states’ TANF programs violates federal statutes and the Constitution, and is a blatant effort to politically target those who are lawfully receiving critical TANF benefits.  

“This vital program helps families make ends meet during challenging times by providing temporary financial assistance and workforce support that help keep children out of poverty,” said AG Campbell. “Families should be able to apply for assistance without worrying that their personal information will be shared across the federal government or used for unrelated purposes. When people are afraid to seek help, children and families pay the price, and the safety net Congress created is weakened for everyone who relies on it. The Trump Administration has no authority to jeopardize recipients’ privacy, and I’ll continue fighting to ensure Massachusetts residents can access critical support with the confidence they deserve.”  

Congress created TANF as part of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996. The law requires the federal government to provide block grants to states, territories, and tribal governments, which then have broad authority to use the funds for a variety of programs to provide assistance to low-income families with children.  

TANF programs provide childcare subsidies, emergency housing for families fleeing domestic violence, emergency food assistance, support for grandparents caring for children, and other critical services. TANF currently provides over $16 billion every year to all fifty states, the District of Columbia, and several territories and tribal governments for these programs. As AG Campbell and the coalition assert in their lawsuit, it is one of the largest sources of direct assistance to low-income families and a crucial part of states’ efforts to fight poverty. Massachusetts received over $457 million in TANF funds for federal fiscal year 2026, with those funds used to provide an average of 94,896 Massachusetts residents per month with basic cash assistance. 

The law enacting TANF specifically requires states, not the federal government, to be responsible for verifying TANF applicants’ eligibility for benefits. Yet ACF now claims the agency has broad authority to oversee states’ TANF programs and share recipients’ private data with other federal agencies for purposes not contemplated by the law, including to verify the citizenship status of TANF recipients. AG Campbell and the coalition argue that this policy would cause significant harm to the vulnerable communities that rely on TANF funds. Allowing TANF recipients’ private data to be illegally shared across the federal government would erode trust that states’ TANF programs have built with their communities and deter those legally qualified to receive benefits from seeking out assistance. ACF’s policy could also lead to unlawful oversight requirements from the federal government – diverting resources that should be used on critical programs to help low-income families.  

AG Campbell and the coalition argue that ACF’s new policy violates the Administrative Procedure Act and the Spending Clause of the U.S. Constitution by ignoring restrictions on data sharing in TANF programs and enacting arbitrary new conditions on federal funding. The lawsuit seeks a court order declaring ACF’s policy illegal and preventing it from being implemented. 

Joining AG Campbell in filing this lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia, as well as the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania. 

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