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Trump administration moved to rescind $600M in CDC health grants, targeting only 4 of 107 recipient states

The Office of Management and Budget ordered the CDC to cancel roughly $602 million in public health grants -- funding disease-outbreak tracking, workforce and infrastructure programs -- to California, Colorado, Illinois and Minnesota, effective February 11, 2026; the same directive also canceled $943 million in Department of Transportation funding to the same four states. All four states, led by Democratic governors, sued the next day, and a federal judge in Illinois granted a 14-day temporary restraining order on February 12 keeping the health funds flowing while the case proceeds.

Jurisdiction
Federal
Location
Washington, D.C.

Abuses documented

Actors

On February 11, 2026, the Office of Management and Budget ordered the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to cancel roughly $602 million in already-awarded public health grants to California, Colorado, Illinois and Minnesota. The same directive canceled $943 million in Department of Transportation funding to the same four states, bringing the combined cuts to more than $1.5 billion. The largest single grant affected was the Public Health Infrastructure Grant (PHIG), a five-year program that has distributed more than $5 billion since 2022 to 107 health departments in all 50 states and was not due to expire until November 2027; only the four Democratic-led states had their PHIG funding cancelled. In Minnesota alone, the cancellation affected roughly $38 million funding workforce development, data-system modernization, and emergency-planning work at the state health department and local and Tribal partners.

An HHS spokesperson told Healio the grants "are being terminated because they do not reflect agency priorities," without further explanation of what those priorities were or why only these four states' grants were affected. Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul characterized the cuts as retaliatory, saying "targeting four Democrat-run states that are standing up to his completely unrelated immigration policies is a transparent attempt to bully us into compliance." Minnesota Health Commissioner Brooke Cunningham said "there is simply no need or valid justification for these targeted cuts that put Minnesotans at risk."

Updates

2026-02-12 — Federal judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking the cuts [1, 2]

The four states -- California, Colorado, Illinois and Minnesota -- sued the Trump administration on February 11 to block the funding cancellation. A U.S. District Court judge in Illinois granted a 14-day temporary restraining order the following day, reinstating the roughly $602 million in public health grants while the case proceeds.

2026-03-13 — Federal judge granted preliminary injunction blocking the grant cuts [5, 6]

On March 13, 2026, a federal judge granted the four states' motion for a preliminary injunction, converting the earlier temporary restraining order into a longer-lasting order blocking the funding cuts. U.S. District Judge Manish Shah found the states were likely to succeed on their claim that the administration's action violated the Administrative Procedure Act.

Why we recorded this

Congressionally appropriated public-health funding is supposed to be administered on the merits, not withheld to punish states for policy disagreements with the White House. The Office of Management and Budget ordered the CDC to cancel roughly $602 million in already-awarded public health grants to California, Colorado, Illinois and Minnesota -- the only four states affected out of 107 health departments nationwide receiving the same program -- citing no reason beyond inconsistency with "agency priorities." This archive records the cancellation because singling out states by their governors' political alignment, rather than by any standard applied to the program itself, is the use of federal funding as leverage the ideal of non-coercive governance exists to prevent.

Sources

  1. Judge temporarily blocks White House plan to cancel CDC funds in four states — Healio primary accessed August 16, 2026
  2. Judge blocks Trump admin from rescinding health grants to Democratic-led states — NPR investigative accessed August 16, 2026
  3. CDC terminates grant for Minnesota meant to strengthen public health infrastructure — Minnesota Department of Health primary accessed August 16, 2026
  4. CDC funding cuts to 4 states in limbo after judge's ruling — CIDRAP, University of Minnesota investigative accessed August 16, 2026
  5. Attorney General Ellison issues statement on preliminary injunction blocking Trump administration's unlawful termination of over $600 million in federal public health grants — Minnesota Attorney General's Office primary accessed August 16, 2026
  6. Court restores millions in CDC grants to Minnesota, three other states — southernminn.com investigative accessed August 16, 2026

See also