In the week of February 9, 2026, the Department of Health and Human Services told Congress it would end about $600 million in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grants in four Democrat-led states: California, Colorado, Illinois and Minnesota. The grants go to local public health agencies, hospitals, NGOs and universities. According to the states' lawsuit, one of the grants at stake is the Public Health Infrastructure Grant, considered the “backbone” of public health nationwide, and the grants under threat help fund workforce and data modernization as well as testing and treatment for diseases like HIV. Healthcare Dive reported that the canceled grants cover workforce initiatives, sexually transmitted infection prevention, health equity proposals and pediatric clinician training, and that over 20 of them are dedicated to HIV prevention or HIV and AIDS surveillance.
Examples reported by ABC News include $1.1 million for HIV surveillance in Los Angeles County, $5.2 million to Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago to increase use of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among Black cisgender women, and $7 million for the city of Chicago to study populations disproportionately affected by STDs. California says it is due $130 million from the infrastructure grant, money that pays for more than 400 jobs.
An HHS spokesperson said, “These grants are being terminated because they do not reflect agency priorities.” HHS has not said why the cuts to the infrastructure grant apply only to four states when the program funds health departments in all 50. In September 2025, the CDC had revised some of its policies, saying efforts to pursue health equity were “ideologically-laden.” A handful of the canceled grants mention care for transgender people, and around 10 mention diversity or equity initiatives, Healthcare Dive reported.
The attorneys general of all four states filed a joint lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, arguing the cuts are based on “arbitrary political animus” and are retaliation over the states' resistance to the administration's immigration priorities. California AG Rob Bonta said, “President Trump is resorting to a familiar playbook. He is using federal funding to compel states and jurisdictions to follow his agenda.”
On February 12, U.S. District Judge Manish Shah temporarily blocked the cuts, writing that “plaintiffs are likely to succeed on their claim to set aside that guidance under the Administrative Procedure Act and their claim to enjoin unconstitutional action by defendants.” In March, Shah issued a preliminary injunction extending that order. He said the cuts could have led to “irreparable harm” and that any actions taken to halt payments to the four states should be considered “null, void, and rescinded.”
Correction (October 2, 2026): This entry's title and summary described the $600 million as HIV and STD prevention funding. Reporting by Healthcare Dive and CalMatters shows the cuts span a range of CDC grants, including the Public Health Infrastructure Grant for the public health workforce, with HIV and STD programs among them; the title and summary now say so. The entry also omitted that a federal judge blocked the cuts on February 12 and issued a preliminary injunction in March, and it has been updated. A claim that the vast majority of the money funded basic disease tracking and a closing commentary paragraph were removed because the sources do not support them.