"Let's be clear, January 20th was an inauguration, not a coronation. Congress is given the power to appropriate the funding. The executive branch cannot unilaterally disregard those appropriations," Raoul said.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul on Tuesday said the Trump administration's move to freeze funding for federal assistance programs is an unconstitutional violation of the separation of powers between the White House and Congress.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt vehemently defended the administration’s sweeping freeze on federal aid, arguing Tuesday in her first press briefing that it was critical to scrutinize the scope of the government’s spending.

Raoul and five other Democratic attorneys general claim the White House's freeze on federal assistance programs is unconstitutional.

The White House is pausing federal grants and loans as President Donald Trump’s administration begins an across-the-board ideological review of its spending