A federal judge temporarily blocked the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from cutting more than $11 billion in Covid-era funding, citing disruption of critical services, after 23 states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit this week against the Trump administration.
Beginning on March 24, HHS abruptly terminated – with no advance notice or warning – critical public health funds by issuing notices to state agencies, a court complaint from Tuesday stated. The Trump administration had argued that the funding was no longer needed because the public health emergency (PHE) declaration had expired almost two years ago.
However, the states countered that the funding itself wasn’t set to expire until June 2027, and its sudden cancellation would cause large-scale disruption, which in some states meant stalling crucial updates to the state’s disease surveillance system.
For nursing homes, the loss of grants to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), for example, would have affected vaccine programs as well as infection prevention and control in states from Minnesota to California, the lawsuit stated.
Co-led by Rhode Island, the lawsuit included Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, Wisconsin and Washington, D.C.
In issuing the ruling on Thursday, Judge Mary S. McElroy of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island said that the states proved the cuts disrupted public health services.
A government lawyer had requested more time to review evidence, according to the New York Times, but Judge McElroy swiftly issued an emergency restraining order, citing the states’ strong case and harm.
“I don’t see how I can deny the temporary restraining order on the record that’s before the court,” she said.
Both sides must return on April 16 for further discussion.
