Judge blocks Trump administration from cutting $600 million in public health funds

A federal judge in Chicago temporarily blocked on Thursday the Trump administration from moving ahead with $600 million in cuts to public health grants in four states led by Democrats.

U.S. District Judge Manish Shah said that California, Colorado, Illinois, and Minnesota were likely to succeed in a lawsuit alleging the funding cuts were meant to retaliate against the states for their perceived opposition to federal immigration enforcement policies.

Shah’s order prevents the federal government from moving ahead with the disputed funding cuts for 14 days while the lawsuit continues to play out in court.

The lawsuit, filed on Wednesday, sought to protect grant funding, administered through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that is used to monitor health threats, respond to disease outbreaks, and plan for public health emergencies.

The affected programs include those supporting HIV prevention and surveillance.

The Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees CDC spending, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly attempted to withhold funding from Democratic-led states, though the cuts have been blocked by lower court judges.

A judge last month temporarily stopped the Trump administration from freezing five Democratic-led states' access to more than $10 billion of federal funds for childcare and family assistance based on what the administration said were concerns about fraud.

Trump last month warned so-called “sanctuary cities or states” that he would begin halting funding in February, saying their policies foment “fraud and crime and all of the other problems that come.”

-Dietrich Knauth/Reuters