The Trump administration is yanking $600 million in public health funding from four blue states — California, Colorado, Illinois, and Minnesota — claiming the grants don’t align with agency priorities.
Documents obtained by The New York Times reveal the sweeping cuts to programs administered through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The funds, used for hiring staff, modernizing data systems, and managing disease outbreaks, will be terminated over the coming weeks after congressional committees were notified Monday.
Nearly two-thirds of the slashed money came from unspent California allocations. The Department of Health and Human Services claimed the grants simply “no longer reflect” current priorities. About two dozen programs targeted HIV and sexually transmitted infections, according to the report.
The cuts include $7.2 million from the American Medical Association in Illinois, $5.2 million from Chicago’s Lurie Children’s Hospital for HIV prevention among Black women, and hundreds of thousands more from organizations serving LGBTQ communities.
Dr. Deb Houry, former CDC chief medical officer, slammed the decision.
“It is concerning that H.H.S. is cutting public health funding to local communities that cover core functions in the middle of a measles outbreak and other health threats,” she told the Times. “This coupled with large staffing cuts to federal public health leaves communities less prepared.”
The administration previously paused $5 billion in public health infrastructure grants last month to review alignment with its goals—though that pause was lifted within 24 hours.
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