By Dana Ferguson and Clay Masters, Minnesota Public Radio News

Minnesota intends to join a legal fight against a new move by President Donald Trump to suspend federal money for an unspecified but potentially long list of programs.

They are working to blunt a decision by Trump to press pause on a range of federal grants and loans, pending a review. Minnesota could stand to see funding to state departments and programs frozen and possibly canceled under Trump’s latest action that caused coast-to-coast consternation Tuesday.

The memorandum signed Monday night puts a temporary pause on federal funds to review where they flow. There is no indication how long it will last.

Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said Tuesday he had contacted Trump and members of Congress to better understand the thought process behind the order. He committed to sue over the action, which could impact up to $2 billion in funding that Minnesota receives each month.

“President Trump is leaving states out in the cold without any guidance or explanation. Minnesota needs answers,” he said. “We will see President Trump in court.”

Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison were outlining their next steps at an afternoon press conference.

Aid directed to individuals appears to be exempt. In all, Minnesota was in line to receive more than $39 billion as part of the current two-year state budget. Walz said the impact to the state’s bottom line could be extraordinary.

“President Trump has just shut off funding for law enforcement, farmers, schools, veterans, and health care. Minnesota will do what we can to keep the lights on, but we cannot fill the nearly $2 billion hole this will put in the state budget’s each month,” Walz said in a news release.

“I do not believe this decision was constitutional and we will work diligently to reverse it, but we are preparing for every eventual outcome to help Minnesotans weather this storm,” he continued.

Details are still unclear

State agency heads didn’t have a good sense as of Tuesday morning about how the order could affect funding to Minnesota agencies.

“We’ll wait and see what comes down from the feds. You know, I am someone who wants to protect funding,” Department of Health Commissioner Brooke Cunningham told a Senate health and human services committee. “I think that is critical. I hope. I think public health is a bipartisan team sport. And I think it is important for us to maintain that funding.”

Cunningham said funding cuts could push the state to reduce programs. Or the difference would have to be made up by state tax dollars.

Department of Human Services Commissioner Jodi Harpstead, who will soon leave that role,  echoed the sentiment. She said the state’s biggest department, which relies on billions of dollars in federal money to operate key programs, was still working to square exactly what the pause would look like.

Minnesota budget impact possible

Any changes in federal funding now or down the road could impact decision making around Minnesota’s next two-year budget. Senators raised questions about the pause during a committee hearing on Tuesday.

Sen. John Marty, DFL-Roseville, co-chairs the Senate Committee on Finance and will have a strong say in drafting a state budget. He’s concerned.

“If we have a several billion dollar gap between revenues and expenses that’s a huge problem,” Marty said. “We get $20 billion a year from the federal government. If you take away even a small portion of that. All of a sudden it can double, triple our problems here.”

His Republican co-chair, Sen. Eric Pratt, R-Prior Lake, said he needed more information about the impact the order might have.

“I expect we will get more clarity and guidance to help the state fulfill the request on today’s order,” Pratt said. “We also need to be sure that vital programs are uninterrupted and this should be a fairly easy task to meet within the timeline given.”