Mayor Zohran Mamdani slams Trump freeze on child care funding as NYC braces for potential cuts

Josephine Stratman and Cayla Bamberger, New York Daily News on Jan 7, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

NEW YORK — Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday slammed the Trump administration’s pause on federal child care and family assistance grants as a “cruel decision that plays politics with children’s futures,” throwing his support behind a threat by Gov. Kathy Hochul to sue over the frozen funds.

The U.S. Health Department announced Tuesday night it froze $10 billion in funding for child care subsidies and cash support for low-income families in New York and four other Democrat-led states, pointing to what it called “fraud concerns.”

Access to the funds, health officials said, would stay restricted pending further review.

Depending on how long that review takes, the funding freeze could jeopardize programs that serve New York’s neediest families and force daycare centers to shutter, just as Mamdani looks to expand universal child care.

“I think the decision that was made was a cruel decision that plays politics with children’s futures here in New York City,” Mamdani, at an unrelated appointment announcement in Jackson Heights, Queens. “And I appreciated what the governor shared yesterday, which was her confidence of being able to win this lawsuit in court.”

Last year, New York State received $638 million through the Child Care and Development Fund and $467 million via a Temporary Assistance for Needy Families transfer to child care — for a total of $1.1 billion statewide. Both federal programs were hit by the freeze.

New York City received an estimated $676 million of federal funding for child care passed through the state, according to the Administration for Children’s Services — though a breakdown by federal program was not immediately available.

The funding freeze appeared to come in response to a fraud allegations involving daycare centers in Minnesota. The Trump administration has not provided evidence of any fraud in New York.

“We have a responsibility to protect taxpayer dollars and ensure these programs serve the families they were created to help,” Alex Adams, the assistant secretary for Children and Families at the U.S. Health Department, said in a statement Tuesday night. “When there are credible concerns about fraud or misuse, we will act.”

Mamdani, despite the fiscal headwinds, insisted he plans to forge ahead with his promised child care expansion, citing a cost of inaction that he estimated was $23 billion in lost economic activity per year. The mayor said he has yet to speak with the president directly about the funding freeze, though he did not rule out doing so.

“We will continue not only to protect the funding that is being provided to New Yorkers across the city, but also to advance our agenda of universal child care,” Mamdani said.

“There will continue to be conversations that I have directly with President Trump, and they will always come back to the needs of New Yorkers, and how to make this a city that they can afford. Child care is one of those critical issues.”