A federal judge Thursday blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to cut $600 million in public health funding to Colorado and three other states, the latest wave of cuts targeting states led by Democratic governors.
“The harm to plaintiffs from the loss of funding is irreparable and intangible — the loss of capacity to fund and maintain public health infrastructure puts the health of plaintiffs’ residents in jeopardy,” wrote U.S. District Judge Manish S. Shah, based in Illinois.
Colorado could stand to lose $22 million in public health funding that comes to the state health department from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The judge issued the temporary restraining order and scheduled a Feb. 18 hearing on the case brought by Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and the attorneys general of California, Illinois and Minnesota. The funding, which was expected to freeze as soon as Thursday if the judge hadn’t halted those plans, allows states to track disease outbreaks and collect public health data that is reported to the CDC.
“The president has repeatedly threatened to cut off federal funds to Colorado for purely political reasons,” Weiser said in an emailed statement. “This action is lawless and mean-spirited.”
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services notified Congress on Monday of its intent to cut CDC grant funding in the four states. Federal officials have cited concerns of fraud and mismanagement of federal money as their reason for cutting funding to states with Democratic governors, but they have so far not cited evidence of widespread fraud in Colorado.
The attorneys general argued that federal officials were pulling the funds because of “policy disagreements,” including about programs that promote diversity, equity and inclusion.
One of the grants was $371,000 in funding for the Colorado Health Network, which works to prevent HIV and helps people living with the virus. The network, with six locations from Greeley to Pueblo, has outreach workers who visit PrideFest, parks and other spots to offer on-the-spot HIV tests that provide results within minutes.
HIV diagnoses among certain groups have increased in recent years, including people ages 14-24 and Latino and Black people, the network said.