President Donald Trump’s administration is not allowed to rescind $600 Million dollars in public health grants in four states that are democratically led for now, a federal judge ruled in Illinois Thursday. California, Colorado, Illinois, and Minnesota sued to try to block the funding cuts that track disease outbreaks. Also studying health outcomes of LGBTQ+ People. Along with communities of color in major cities.
U.S. District Judge Manish Shah stopped the cuts from taking effect for 14 days. So that the grant money will continue to flow how it should. Including centers for disease control to state and city health departments. The first batch of grants could have been pulled Thursday if the judge had not intervened, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said. The Department of Health and Human Services said the grants are being terminated because they don’t reflect the CDC priorities
A lot of the money helped cities fight the spread of HIV and other spread diseases. The federal health officials did not respond to comment requests. Officials in the four states are among Trump’s strongest political foes and view the cuts as retaliation for opposing his immigration enforcement crackdown. They all have been targets to other federal cuts including food assistance programs.
Their lawsuit, led by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, argues that the health care cuts violate the Constitution by imposing retroactive conditions on funding that Congress has already awarded. The attorney general said the lack of funding would force them to lay off hundreds of public health employees. Courts have temporarily blocked efforts by the Trump administration, including a plan to cut off billions for child care subsidies and other programs for low-income families in the four states, plus New York.
