Ellison claims the actions are illegal, and is also requesting that the court issue a temporary restraining order to block the pause.

ST PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) filed a federal lawsuit Monday after the Trump administration announced last week it was temporarily halting some Medicaid funding because of fraud concerns. 

The lawsuit comes in response to an announcement last week by Vice President JD Vance and Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, claiming that the administration was pausing $259 million in Medicaid funding “in order to ensure that the state of Minnesota takes its obligations seriously to be good stewards of the American people’s tax money.”

Ellison and the DHS claim the actions are illegal, and are also requesting that the court issue a temporary restraining order to block the pause.

“The Trump Administration’s M.O. is to cut first, no matter what the law says or who gets hurt, and ask questions later, if at all,” Ellison said in a statement. “These cuts are the latest in a long series of efforts to go around the law to punish Minnesotans — but just as we fought back and won when they illegally tried to cut funding for childcare, hungry families, and our schools, we are suing them again today to make them follow the law.”

During a press conference last week, Vance explained that the providers had already been paid by the state, but now the federal government was holding off on reimbursing the state those funds “until the state government takes its obligations seriously to stop the fraud that’s being perpetrated against the American taxpayer.”

RELATED: What does a deferral of nearly $260M in Minnesota Medicaid funding mean? Providers don’t know yet.

Oz later explained that Gov. Tim Walz would have 60 days to respond, advising health care providers and Medicaid beneficiaries who were concerned to contact Walz’s office.

“If providers and beneficiaries are worried about getting their money and services, please call your governor,” Oz said. “These are services the governor has already paid for; we are just not reimbursing the state. To make it clear, there is a rainy day fund in Minnesota, so we are very confident that people will not be hurt in Minnesota. This is not a problem with the people of Minnesota, it’s a problem with the leadership of Minnesota and other states who do not take Medicaid preservation seriously.”

Ellison’s lawsuit, which is filed against the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), argues that the Trump administration is illegally attempting to withhold $243 million in Medicaid payments.

“The decision by federal officials to defer funding from Minnesota’s Medicaid program ignores the massive effort and resources we are already directing to identifying and addressing fraud – most of which are known to, or even directed by, CMS,” said Minnesota Department of Human Services deputy commissioner and state Medicaid director John Connolly in a statement. “It is extremely concerning to us given this could have a drastic and devastating impacts on Minnesotans who rely on our health care system.” 

In a news release accompanying the announcement, CMS said the funding being paused in Minnesota included some $244 million in unsupported or potentially fraudulent Medicaid claims and about $15 million in claims involving “individuals lacking a satisfactory immigration status.”

Immigrants who are not living in the U.S. legally, as well as some lawfully present immigrants, are not allowed to enroll in the Medicaid program that provides nearly-free coverage for health services. According to Ellison, Medicaid provides healthcare insurance for more than one million Minnesotans.

The Associated Press contributed to this article