Four Democratic-led states, California, Colorado, Illinois, and Minnesota, filed a federal lawsuit in Chicago on Wednesday to block the Trump administration’s $600 million healthcare funding cuts.
The lawsuit argued that the reductions are unlawful and motivated by political disagreements unrelated to public health, such as federal immigration enforcement.
The CDC-administered grant funding supports monitoring health threats, responding to disease outbreaks, and planning for public health emergencies, including programs for HIV prevention and surveillance.
Earlier this week, the New York Times reported about the administration’s plans to cut $600 million in public health funding from the four states, citing the grants as “inconsistent with agency priorities.” The reductions affect state and local public health programs as well as some NGOs, and a list of the cuts was shared with congressional committees on Monday.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) did not immediately respond to Benzinga‘s request for comment.
Previous Funding Freeze & SNAP Data Dispute
In January, the Trump administration attempted to freeze over $10 billion in funding for social services and child care in five Democratic-led states, citing concerns over fraudulent payments to non-citizens.
The HHS halted allocations from the Child Care Development Fund (CCDF), the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and the Social Services Block Grant programs. However, a lower court temporarily blocked the order.
After the escalating protests over law enforcement officials in the Minneapolis area, Trump called for Congress to pass legislation to “end” sanctuary cities, citing stricter enforcement and cooperation as necessary to improve public safety and lower crime.
In December, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins revealed plans to withhold SNAP funding from Democratic-led states, including California, New York, and Minnesota, that refuse to provide identifying information on beneficiaries, such as immigration status. Rollins said the data, requested last February, was intended to detect fraud, adding that 29 Republican-led states complied, while Democrat-run states did not.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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