Judge Pauses Plan to Hold Back $11B in Health Funding

A federal judge on Thursday put a two-week freeze on the Trump administration's plan to cancel more than $11 billion approved by Congress to send state and local health governments to fund public health projects. The restraining order was sought a group of 23 states and the District of Columbia that sued the Department of Health and Human Services this week, the Hill reports, arguing that the federal government lacks the authority to rescind funding it already allocated—especially when states have relied on the commitments to establish essential health programs.

"The likelihood of success on the merits is extremely strong," Judge Mary McElroy of the federal district court in Rhode Island said Thursday. McElroy, who was appointed by President Trump, added that "the record is voluminous … with allegations of irreparable harm" possible if the funding doesn't go through. The money was approved during the pandemic, mostly for COVID-related programs and mental health and substance use efforts, per the AP. The suit says the loss of the funding would be devastating to the nation's public health infrastructure and put states "at greater risk for future pandemics and the spread of otherwise preventable disease." HHS said the funding is no longer needed because the pandemic has ended. (More Health and Human Services stories.)