AI-assisted summary A federal judge temporarily blocked HHS Secretary Kennedy’s cuts to state, county and local health funding, including Columbus Public Health.

The cuts included $11.4 billion in COVID-19 response funding, impacting programs like childhood vaccinations and infectious disease investigation.

Columbus sued the Trump administration over the cuts, arguing they endanger public health.

A federal judge is temporarily blocking cuts to local health funding by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., including already promised millions slashed from Columbus Public Health.

In March, the federal government pulled back $11.4 billion in promised funding for state, county and local health departments given out in response to the COVID-19 pandemic for tracking, treating and preventing infectious diseases. Federal officials cited the COVID-19 pandemic being “over” as the reason for eliminating the grants.

That included slashing $250 million for childhood vaccination programs at the Ohio Department of Health and $3 million of $6 million ingrants to Columbus Public Health, resulting in the termination of 11 infectious disease investigators.

“This decision allows local health departments to be able to do their jobs to respond to infectious disease outbreaks and prevent needless deaths of children and our most vulnerable,” Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein said in a prepared release. The city of Columbus sued the Trump administration over the cuts in April.

“We will continue to urge the court to make this injunction permanent, and send a message to Washington that cities will not back down as this administration recklessly defies Congress, ignores the rule of law, and endangers the health and safety of children and families in Ohio and across the nation,” Klein said in the release.

Andrew Nixon, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, told Reuters that the agency stands by its decision to end funding for research “that prioritized ideological agendas over scientific rigor and meaningful outcomes for the American people,” and is considering an appeal.

“Under the leadership of Secretary Kennedy and the Trump administration, HHS is committed to ensuring that taxpayer dollars support programs rooted in evidence-based practices and gold-standard science, not driven by divisive DEI mandates or gender ideology,” Nixon said.

Medical business and health care reporter Samantha Hendrickson can be reached at shendrickson@dispatch.com