Trump administration blocked from cutting local health funding for four
municipalities
[June 18, 2025]
By DEVI SHASTRI
A federal court has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from
clawing back millions in public health funding from four Democrat-led
municipalities in GOP-governed states.
It's the second such federal ruling to reinstate public health funding
for several states.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper in Washington, D.C., issued a
preliminary injunction Tuesday sought by district attorneys in Harris
County, Texas, home to Houston, and three cities: Columbus, Ohio,
Nashville, Tennessee, and Kansas City, Missouri. The decision means the
federal government must reinstate funding to the four municipalities
until the case is fully litigated.
“The federal government cannot simply ignore Congress and pull the plug
on essential services that communities rely on,” Harris County Attorney
Christian Menefee said. “Today’s decision ensures we can keep doing the
work that protects our residents — from tracking disease outbreaks to
providing vaccinations and supporting vulnerable families.”
Their lawsuit, filed in late April, alleged $11 billion in cuts to U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention programs had already been
approved by Congress and are being unconstitutionally withheld. They
also argued that the administration’s actions violate Department of
Health and Human Services regulations.
The cities and counties argued the cuts were “a massive blow to U.S.
public health at a time where state and local public health departments
need to address burgeoning infectious diseases and chronic illnesses,
like the measles, bird flu, and mpox.” The cuts would lead to thousands
of state and local public health employees being fired, the lawsuit
argued.
The local governments, alongside the American Federation of State,
County and Municipal Employees union, wanted the court to reinstate the
grants nationwide. But Cooper said in his preliminary injunction that
the funds can only be blocked to the four municipalities and in a May 21
hearing expressed skepticism about whether it could apply more widely.
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Michael Beach protests President Donald Trump's proposed cuts to
health services outside the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta on Tuesday, June 10, 2025.
(Arvin Temkar/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
 The funding in question was granted
during the COVID-19 pandemic but aimed at building up public health
infrastructure overall, Menefee said in a statement in April.
The four local governments were owed about $32.7 million in future
grant payments, Cooper's opinion notes.
The federal government's lawyers said the grants were legally cut
because, "Now that the pandemic is over, the grants and cooperative
agreements are no longer necessary as their limited purpose has run
out.” They used the same argument in the case brought by 23 states
and the District of Columbia over the HHS funding clawback.
Menefee said the cuts defunded programs in Harris County for
wastewater disease surveillance, community health workers and
clinics and call centers that helped people get vaccinated. Columbus
City Attorney Zach Klein said the cuts forced the city to fire 11 of
its 22 infectious disease staffers.
Nashville used some of its grant money to support programs,
including a “strike team” that after the pandemic addressed gaps in
health services that kept kids from being able to enroll in school,
according to the lawsuit.
Kansas City used one of its grants to build out capabilities to test
locally for COVID-19, influenza and measles rather than waiting for
results from the county lab. The suit details that after four years
of work to certify facilities and train staff, the city “was at the
final step" of buying lab equipment when the grant was canceled.
Representatives for HHS, the CDC and the cities did not immediately
respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
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