Judge Mary McElroy of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island ruled Friday to extend a temporary restraining order she issued last month that barred the Trump administration from wiping out pandemic-era funding to Washington D.C., and 23 Democratic-led states.
States behind the lawsuit argued that HHS acted unlawfully by abruptly ending the grant funding without any analysis of the move’s benefits or consequences.
HHS said that the $11.4 billion worth of grant funding was mainly used to pay for testing, vaccines and hiring community health workers to combat COVID-19. And the agency argues since the pandemic is over, state and local health agencies no longer need that money.
Although the grants were initially authorized by COVID-19 relief legislation, the funds were allowed to be spent on other efforts like combating the ongoing measles outbreak in Texas. State and local health departments said the funds were already being used for such efforts.
McElroy ruled that the agency does not have the legal right to unilaterally withhold the grant funding that has already been allocated to localities, especially in states where that funding has been used to build essential health programs.
She wrote in her ruling that the funding cuts would “result in devastating consequences to their local jurisdictions ... would constrain the States’ infectious disease research, thwart treatment efforts to those struggling with mental health and addiction, and impact the availability of vaccines to children, the elderly and those living in rural areas.”
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