Another strike for Donald Trump Friday as a federal judge blocked the administration from cutting nearly $11 billion in grants "for a wide range of public health programs," related to infectious diseases, mental health, substance abuse, and other concerns, according to The Boston Globe.
Last month, attorneys general in 24 states and the District of Columbia accused Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of moving to eliminate the funds "without warning and valid legal explanation."
U.S. District Court Judge Mary S. McElroy granted a preliminary injunction on Friday to block the cuts.
Judge McElroy wrote in a memorandum that cuts “would constrain the States’ infectious disease research, thwart treatment efforts to those struggling with mental health and addiction, and impact the availability of vaccines to children, the elderly, and those living in rural communities,” among other initiatives.
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She continued, “There is ample evidence to support the States’ position that the Public Health Funding Decision is causing immediate damage to their healthcare programs and the safety of their residents,” McElroy wrote. “While the Court acknowledges HHS’ position that it may be unable to recover the grant funds if it later prevails, Congress’s direction that the funds remain intact and the States’ reliance on the continuation of the funding overshadows that argument.”
On Friday, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha decried the cuts as a “hacksaw approach to government reduction.”
“If we don’t have our health, we don’t have anything, and that’s why today’s preliminary injunction is such a critical win,” Neronha said.
A spokesperson for HHS told the Globe in an email that the agency does not comment on litigation.