President Donald Trump’s administration cannot rescind $600 million in public health grants allocated to four Democratic-led states, for now, a federal judge in Illinois ruled Thursday.
California, Colorado, Illinois and Minnesota sued Wednesday to try to block the planned funding cuts to programs that track disease outbreaks and study health outcomes of LGBTQ+ people and communities of color in major cities.
U.S. District Judge Manish Shah stopped the cuts from taking effect for 14 days, saying in his order that the states “have shown that they would suffer irreparable harm from the agency action.” That will keep grant money flowing from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to state and city health departments and their partner organizations while the challenge proceeds.
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 do not reflect CDC priorities, which were revised last year to align with the administration’s shift away from health equity, the idea that certain populations may need additional support to eliminate health disparities.
Much of the money helped cities fight the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, especially among gay and bisexual men, adolescents and ethnic minorities.
Federal health officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the judge’s order.
Officials in the four states are among Trump’s strongest political foes and view the cuts as retaliation for opposing his immigration enforcement crackdown. All have been targets of other federal cuts, including for food assistance programs, child care subsidies and electric vehicle infrastructure.
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 already awarded.
“Targeting four Democrat-run states that are standing up to his completely unrelated immigration policies is a transparent attempt to bully us into compliance,” Raoul said. “The president may be playing politics with critical public health funding, including more than $100 million to Illinois, but our residents are the ones who pay the price.”
The attorneys general say the loss of funding would force them to lay off hundreds of public health workers.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said they will seek to extend the judge’s pause for the duration of the lawsuit.
Courts have temporarily blocked similar 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.