Trump administration again blocked from cutting billions in federal
health money
[May 17, 2025]
By DEVNA BOSE
President Donald Trump's administration must put the brakes on slashing
billions in federal money for public health departments, a federal judge
said Friday.
U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy in Rhode Island granted the preliminary
injunction request in the lawsuit brought last month by a coalition of
Democrat-led states, allowing the money to keep flowing.
“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,” Rhode Island
Attorney General Peter Neronha said in a statement, adding later: “A
hacksaw approach to government reduction will never yield positive
results for the American people, and we will continue to fight, and win,
in court to minimize the harm the Trump Administration is causing the
people of this country.”
The lawsuit filed April 1 by 23 states and the District of Columbia
sought to immediately halt $11 billion in cuts, alleging that it would
decimate public health infrastructure across the country. The money,
allocated by Congress during the pandemic, supported COVID-19
initiatives and mental health and substance abuse efforts.
The federal government argued that because the pandemic is over, the
states no longer need the money. But McElroy, who granted a temporary
restraining order last month in the case, wrote in her decision that the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services doesn't have the power to
decide that money isn't necessary anymore.
She went on to say that the agency ignored multiple requirements that
govern how block grant programs are terminated, calling the federal
government's argument for how it handled the situation “puzzling.”
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People rally at Health and Human Services headquarters to protest
the polices of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk Wednesday, Feb.
19, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell, file)
 McElroy wrote that the federal
government's decision to rescind the money isn't just an economic
loss — “ample evidence” provided by the states shows that it will
decimate "key mental health, substance abuse, and other healthcare
programs ... worsening public health outcomes and placing their
residents at risk.”
She pointed to several instances of what the money funded, like
vaccination efforts and building up disease surveillance and labs
for “future health threats,” before writing, “The Court could go
on.”
The injunction only applies to the states involved in the lawsuit.
The federal government must file documentation that they're
complying with the order by Tuesday evening.
“We’re going to continue our lawsuit to protect the health and
well-being of millions of Americans," New York Attorney General
Letitia James wrote on X shortly after the decision.
Health departments across the country have said they've laid off
employees after the Trump administration began to claw back the
money in late March.
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