Four Democratic-led states sue Trump administration over cuts to public health funding

Investing.com – On Wednesday, four Democratic-led states filed a lawsuit seeking to block the Trump administration’s termination of $600 million in public health funding.

California, Colorado, Illinois, and Minnesota filed the lawsuit in the Chicago federal court, claiming that they were unlawfully deprived of basic public health infrastructure funds due to “political hostility and disagreements over unrelated issues such as federal immigration enforcement,” and that these cuts are “devastating.”

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services stated on Monday that the funding was terminated because it did not align with the department’s priorities. The Department of Health and Human Services has not responded to requests for comment regarding the lawsuit.

These funds, managed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are used to support health threat monitoring, disease outbreak response, and public health emergency planning. Affected programs include initiatives supporting HIV prevention and surveillance.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly attempted to withhold funds from states led by Democrats, but these efforts have faced legal challenges. Last month, a judge temporarily blocked the government from freezing over $10 billion in federal child care and family assistance funds that were to be distributed to five Democratic-led states.

In January, Trump warned that starting in February, he would cease funding to “sanctuary cities or states,” claiming that their policies fostered “fraud, crime, and all the problems that come with them.”

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