1. United States
2. Colo.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to take immediate action against the Trump administration's attempt to rescind $600 million in CDC public health grants to California, Colorado, Illinois, and Minnesota. This funding cut, temporarily blocked by U.S. District Judge Manish Shah on Thursday, represents a dangerous precedent of using public health as a political weapon. Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and his counterparts filed suit on Wednesday, arguing these cuts violate the Constitution by imposing retroactive conditions on funding Congress already awarded. The timing and targeting are transparent: these four Democratic-led states have been vocal opponents of Trump's immigration enforcement policies and have faced repeated federal funding threats across multiple programs, including food assistance, child care subsidies, and electric vehicle infrastructure. The human cost of these cuts is staggering. Illinois alone stands to lose more than $100 million, forcing layoffs of hundreds of public health workers. These grants fund critical programs that track disease outbreaks, combat HIV and sexually transmitted infections among vulnerable populations including gay and bisexual men and ethnic minorities, and study health outcomes in LGBTQ+ communities and communities of color in major cities. The administration claims these programs do not reflect CDC priorities after shifting away from health equity last year. But health equity is not a political preference. It is the recognition that certain populations need additional support to eliminate health disparities. Abandoning this principle does not change the reality that disease outbreaks do not respect political boundaries. Judge Shah ruled that the states would suffer irreparable harm from this agency action. Your constituents will suffer that harm if these cuts proceed. I urge you to publicly oppose these funding rescissions and support legislation that protects already-awarded public health grants from political retaliation. Public health infrastructure protects all Americans, regardless of which party controls their state government.