CDC Pulls $600M in Health Grants from Four Democrat-Led States

The Trump administration is cutting $600M in CDC grants to California, Colorado, Illinois and Minnesota, sparking a federal lawsuit over alleged political retaliation.

The Trump administration has moved to rescind approximately $600 million in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) grant funding from four Democratic-led states California, Colorado, Illinois, and Minnesota prompting an immediate four state federal lawsuit. The Department of Health and Human Services notified Congress of the planned terminations on Monday, citing that the grants "do not reflect agency priorities”.

The cuts target a wide swath of public health programs, including workforce initiatives, HIV and STI prevention, health equity proposals, pediatric clinician training, and critical disease surveillance infrastructure. Among the specific grants terminated are $5.2 million to Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago for HIV prevention among Black women, $876,000 to UCSF for reducing social isolation among older LGBTQ adults, and $371,000 to the Colorado Health Network for HIV testing outreach to Black and Latino gay men.

The Public Health Infrastructure Grant program, which has operated in all 50 states since 2022, is a primary target. The four affected states face hundreds of layoffs: Minnesota will lose 57 disease surveillance positions, Illinois stands to lose 99 public health department employees, and California faces disruption to over 400 positions including epidemiologists and nurses.

Attorneys general from the four states filed suit Wednesday in the Northern District of Illinois, alleging the cuts are "arbitrary and capricious," exceed statutory authority, and constitute political retaliation against "sanctuary" jurisdictions . "President Trump is resorting to a familiar playbook using federal funding to compel states to follow his agenda," said California Attorney General Rob Bonta.

The CDC revised its priorities in September, stating that focused approaches for minority populations "has not translated into measurable improved health" and "in many cases has undermined core American values”. An HHS spokesperson said the administration may reinvest funds into HIV and STI programs without specific population targeting.

Critics warn the mid-funding-cycle termination will cause "preventable deaths, injuries, and needless suffering due to HIV and other disease outbreaks the states can no longer track," according to the states' complaint . Dr. Deb Houry, who resigned as CDC chief medical officer in August, called the cuts "deeply troubling" amid active measles outbreaks and other health threats