Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has joined a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s funding freeze. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Liam Niemeyer)
FRANKFORT — Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear said his office is joining a national lawsuit against the Trump administration’s funding freeze to get dollars “that the people of Kentucky are owed.”
Beshear made the announcement during his weekly press conference, saying that his office has been added as a party to a lawsuit filed by Democratic attorneys general in 22 states and the District of Columbia.
“For us as a state, this is important, first, because we take our Constitution and the U.S. Constitution seriously, but also many of these programs operate on reimbursements,” Beshear said.
At the moment, Kentucky has paid more than $7 million under federal law and other agreements for which the federal government must reimburse the state, Beshear said.
A federal judge in Rhode Island has ordered the Trump administration to unfreeze the payments, and on Tuesday the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals declined the Trump Justice Department’s request to block that order.
Beshear was a vocal critic of the Trump administration for issuing and then rescinding a memo freezing a wide variety of federal payments, setting off widespread confusion. At the time, the governor called it “one of the most bizarre days” he’s seen in government.
Despite the judge’s ruling, some federal payments, including reimbursements to farmers in Kentucky, are still frozen, according to media reports.
“We deserve to be able to rely on the agreements that a federal government has made, regardless of what party is in power,” Beshear said. “And I was raised to say, my word is my bond. And when I sign a contract, I go through with it. When I sign an agreement, I go through with it, and this is just asking our federal government to do the same.”
Beshear emphasized that he would have taken the same action regardless of the president’s political party. He pointed to having sued the Obama administration as Kentucky’s attorney general.
“My job isn’t to be the best Democratic governor I can be, but the best governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky that I can be. I’m going to keep standing up for us and our people.”
When asked if his office had conferred with Republican Attorney General Russell Coleman’s office about seeking the federal funding in court, Beshear compared the situation to former Republican Gov. Matt Bevin joining lawsuits in his official capacity while Beshear was attorney general. Beshear added that this action allows him to raise Kentucky issues in court.
“This lets us enforce our contractual rights and programs and payments created under federal statute directly,” he said. “And that’s my goal — is just to get it resolved.”
Beshear reportedly said during a call with top Democrats last month that states with Democratic governors and Republican attorneys general need to have a separate legal and communications strategy to oppose Trump’s policies.
Spokespeople for Coleman did not return an emailed request for comment Thursday afternoon.