Colorado filed a lawsuit Wednesday to prevent the Trump administration from canceling more than $20 million in grants for public health.
On Monday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services notified Congress it wouldn’t pay $600 million worth of grants already awarded in Colorado, California, Illinois and Minnesota — all states led by Democratic governors.
The four states asked a federal court in Illinois’ Northern District to issue an order preventing the federal government from withholding the funds while their lawsuit plays out.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser’s office said the existing grants totaled about $22 million, and the cuts would reduce Colorado’s public health funding in the future by an estimated $4 million.
The funding comes through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and goes toward developing the public health infrastructure and workforce, as well as finding and preventing sexually transmitted infections.
One of the recipients in Colorado that will lose funding is using it to increase HIV testing around Denver and Colorado Springs, with a focus on gay and bisexual men of color.
The grants go to all states, and the federal government hasn’t explained why it only cut them for four state. An HHS spokesperson said the grants targeted for cuts don’t align with the administration’s priorities.
The suing states argued that the cuts are illegal because they are “arbitrary and capricious,” and meant to punish states with leadership opposed to President Donald Trump.
“The president has repeatedly threatened to cut off federal funds to Colorado for purely political reasons,” Weiser said in a news release. “The abrupt termination of CDC funds would have immediate and irreversible impacts on Colorado’s public health system and critical services for communities across the state.”
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Meg Wingerter
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