President Trump signed the fiscal year 2026 Health and Human Services appropriations bill on February 3. Nine days later, his Office of Management and Budget directed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to cancel grants Congress had just funded. Colorado officials learned about it by reading the New York Post.
The Trump administration confirmed the rescissions to Fox Business and the Post on February 5 and 6. No official notice went to the affected states. Colorado Department of Health and Human Services told reporters the state “learned of the potential cuts through media.”
The cuts target $602 million in CDC grants to California, Colorado, Illinois, and Minnesota. Transportation Department rescissions add $943 million. An OMB spokesperson cited “waste and mismanagement” in states the administration calls “sanctuary jurisdictions.”
Colorado faces $3 million in CDC cuts for programs addressing COVID health disparities in rural communities. The state also loses $4.9 million in Transportation funding for electric vehicle charging stations in low and middle-income neighborhoods. Jessica Forsyth, who directs Colorado’s HIV and viral hepatitis programs, warned the cuts would impact the Colorado Health Network, the state’s largest AIDS service provider.
The four states sued February 11 in federal court in Chicago. U.S. District Judge Manish Shah blocked the CDC portion one day later. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser told the court the first grants would have been terminated February 13 without judicial intervention.
Judge Shah found the states showed “irreparable harm from the agency action.” His written opinion noted Health and Human Services claimed the grants “do not reflect agency priorities.” But Shah wrote that “recent statements plausibly suggest the reason for the direction is hostility to what the federal government calls sanctuary jurisdictions.”
Some canceled grants received bipartisan support in the final budget Trump signed. The Public Health Infrastructure Grant got a $10 million increase. The House and Senate both funded it. The administration canceled it anyway.
This marks the fourth court intervention blocking Trump funding cuts to these states. Previous orders stopped a $10 billion child care freeze. Another blocked Department of Energy green project cuts. A third unfroze electric vehicle charger funds.
The Transportation cuts remain unblocked. Illinois loses $100 million for EV chargers near underserved communities. Minnesota loses $15 million for chargers in environmental justice areas. California loses $15 million for charging networks serving disadvantaged communities around San Francisco.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said the cuts eliminate more than $100 million in public health funding to his state alone. The four states claim rescissions would force layoffs of hundreds of public health workers and disrupt disease outbreak tracking. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said they will seek to extend Judge Shah’s 14-day order for the lawsuit’s duration.
The temporary restraining order expires February 26.
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