Democrat-led states sue Trump to get $600 million in health funds slated for cancellation

Four blue states sued the Trump administration Wednesday to prevent the loss of $600 million in federal public health funds.

The Department of Health and Human Services notified Congress on Monday that it will terminate grants to the four states: California, Colorado, Illinois and Minnesota.

The funding, through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pays for public health infrastructure, monitoring health threats, responding to disease outbreaks and helping specific populations, such as tracking the spread of HIV in the LGBTQ community.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Illinois against President Trump and several of his officials, alleges that the “lawless” action is based on “political animus and disagreements about unrelated topics such as federal immigration enforcement, political protest, and clean energy.”

“The president is blatantly targeting states that are disfavored for political reasons, and our residents are the ones who will suffer,” Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in a statement.

Some grants could be terminated as soon as Thursday, and others in the coming weeks, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said.

The lawsuit asked the court to declare the cuts unlawful and bar the administration from implementing them or “engaging in future retaliatory conduct regarding federal funding or other participation in federal programs.”

The states’ attorneys general plan to file a motion for a temporary restraining order to block the cuts from taking effect.

“President Trump is resorting to a familiar playbook. He is using federal funding to compel states and jurisdictions to follow his agenda. Those efforts have all previously failed, and we expect that to happen once again,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. “Still, all Americans should be outraged. President Trump is not above the law, but he continues to act as if he is. My fellow attorneys general and I will not be silenced. We will continue taking him to court any time he takes unlawful actions.”

Mr. Trump has repeatedly attempted to withhold funding from Democratic-led states. Lower court judges blocked the cuts.

The president made it a priority to root out federal funding that benefits woke ideologies, such as diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, provoking the ire of Democrats.

The White House said the programs “promote DEI and radical gender ideology.” Health officials said the cuts targeted programs that did not reflect the Health Department’s “priorities.”

The Trump administration revised the CDC’s priorities in September, labeling health equity as an “ideologically-laden” concept.

The agency’s previous focus “has not translated into measurable improved health for minority populations, and in many cases has undermined core American values,” the agency said.

The states argue that the administration’s decision “singles out jurisdictions for disfavor based not on any rational purpose related to the goals of any program but rather based on partisan animus.”

While the CDC funding had been allocated to programs in all four states, Mr. Bonta said his state faces the largest share of the cuts with a $130 million price tag under a Public Health Infrastructure Block Grant.

Sen. Alex Padilla, California Democrat, said that the president’s “message to the 1.2 million Americans living with HIV is clear: their lives are not a priority, political retribution is.”