President Donald Trump’s administration is planning to withhold some public health and transportation funding from some Democratic-led states.
Full details have yet to be released, including whether there are any steps states can take to avoid losing funding. The federal government has expressed concerns about fraud and mismanagement of taxpayer funds but has offered no evidence beyond the rhetoric of Trump and others in his administration.
It’s an approach that has become familiar to governments, this time focusing on common targets: California, Colorado, Illinois and Minnesota.
So far, courts have temporarily blocked other similar efforts by this administration to limit funding.
Latest efforts target some public health and transportation funds
As the New York Post first reported last week, an official at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget confirmed to The Associated Press that the office is notifying the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to cancel funding totaling more than $1.5 billion. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the cuts publicly.
The official did provide a partial list of programs facing cuts; some appeared to be targeted because they were inconsistent with the administration’s policies against protecting transgender people and diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
Targeted transportation funding includes funding for electric vehicle chargers in all four states, research funding to translate the Illinois commercial driver’s license test into Spanish, and funding for california to adapt to climate change.
Health research funding includes projects designed to study the health impacts of specific populations. One of the study groups is located at chicago Disproportionately affected by sexually transmitted infections: “Adolescents, minorities, and men who have sex with men;” and a grant to the University of California focused on “reducing social isolation among older LGBTQ adults.”
Also on the list is a $7.2 million grant to the Chicago-based American Medical Association, which the association noted supports gender-affirming care for minors, a practice opposed by a Trump executive order.
States say they have not yet received notifications
The governors’ offices in all four states said Tuesday they had not received any information from the administration. Trump administration About the plan.
“Time and time again, the Trump administration has sought to politicize and punish certain states that President Trump does not like,” Jillian Kaehler, a spokesperson for Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, said in a statement. “This is wrong and often illegal, so Illinois will always fight for the resources and services our taxpayers deserve.”
The administration has previously targeted Democratic states with funding
These states — all with Democratic governors — are also targets for other federal spending cuts.
A judge ruled last week that the Trump administration cannot currently halt child care subsidies and other social service programs for low-income people in those states, as well as New York. States say federal programs collectively provide them more than $10 billion annually.
The government is also facing legal challenges over its attempts to withhold administrative funds from 22 Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP food assistance) programs that failed to provide information about recipients, including their immigration status. These states include nearly all Democratic governors. The judge was asked to decide whether cutting off funding would violate an existing court order that temporarily bans the government from collecting data.
Trump also threatened to withhold federal funds from sanctuary cities and their states, then ordered government agencies to compile data from 14 mostly Democratic-controlled states and the District of Columbia. All four states included in recent efforts are also on that list.
Other federal funds from Minnesota and Minneapolis were also targeted.
