WASHINGTON – A federal judge has temporarily stopped the Trump administration from slashing more than $11 billion in public health funding—money that had been supporting everything from addiction treatment and mental health services to vaccination and pandemic preparedness.
As Emily’s Hope reported last week, 23 Democratic-led states and Washington, D.C., filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., arguing the cuts are unlawful and unjustified. According to several news sources, U.S. District Judge Mary S. McElroy in Rhode Island has now issued an order blocking the cuts while the case moves through the courts.
The lawsuit claims the federal government failed to offer a “rational basis” or supporting evidence for ending the funding and warns that communities across the country would suffer immediate and lasting harm if the cuts move forward.
HHS maintains that the funding is no longer necessary, pointing to the official end of the COVID-19 public health emergency. But plaintiffs argue that the money was never just about the pandemic—it was designed to strengthen long-term public health infrastructure, from overdose prevention to suicide prevention and broader behavioral health support.
The threatened cuts involve grant programs administered through both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
