“There’s no legal basis for this money to be withheld,” Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said. “It’s harmful, it threatens our health. And that’s why we’re going to court really quickly to make sure that we’re getting these funds and this administration has to follow the law.”
Colorado has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration after the federal government announced that it would cut more than $600 million in funding from four Democrat-led states.
According to Colorado Public Radio, the state Department of Public Health and Environment is expected to lose more than $22 million in funds that have already been approved and awarded, as well as $4 million in secured future funding.
The Trump administration has also targeted California, Illinois, and Minnesota with similar reductions. The funds, originally disbursed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, include grants given for hiring medical staff, modernizing data systems, and managing disease outbreaks. Some of the programs address community-specific needs and deficiencies.
The New York Times notes that more than two-thirds of the slashed funds were allocated to state- and local-level health departments in California.
“These grants are being terminated because they do not reflect agency priorities,” a spokesperson for the federal Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement.
Dr. Deb Houry, who served as the CDC’s chief medical officer before resigning her position in August, said that it’s strange for the agency to cancel funds that have already been appropriated.
“It is concerning that HHS is cutting public health funding to local communities that cover core functions in the middle of a measles outbreak and other health threats,” Houry told The New York Times. “This coupled with large staffing cuts to federal public health leaves communities less prepared.”
Speaking to Colorado Public Radio, state Attorney General Phil Weiser said the government’s decision is “vindictive and lawless,” if not especially surprising.
“This is consistent with some prior actions where this administration said, ‘We’re gonna stop providing money for blue states because there’s something about what you’re doing that we won’t like.’”
“That’s un-American,” Weiser said.
Since Trump’s re-election in 2024, selective and politically-motivated reductions have put billions of dollars in approved federal funds at risk of abrupt cancelation.
“There’s no legal basis for this money to be withheld,” Weiser said. “It’s harmful, it threatens our health. And that’s why we’re going to court really quickly to make sure that we’re getting these funds and this administration has to follow the law.”
Weiser’s lawsuit notes that the largest grant affected, the Public Health Infrastructure Block Grant, operates in all 50 states and is used to fund both critical short-term infrastructure and longer-term strategic investment.
Weiser and the attorneys general from the other three affected states have asked the court to issue a temporary restraining order preventing the administration from enforcing the reductions.
Sources
Trump Administration to Cut $600 Million in Health Funding From Four States
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