AFSCME and AFSCME Council 31 have filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Trump-Vance administration’s directive ordering the termination of hundreds of millions of dollars in critical public health grants administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The lawsuit, which AFSCME brought with Democracy Forward, seeks to block the administration’s unlawful effort to cut off funding to public health programs in Illinois, California, Colorado, and Minnesota — all states being targeted because they are led by Democrats.
The loss of this funding threatens the work of public health departments and the jobs of public employees who carry out these programs, thousands of whom are AFSCME members.
“AFSCME members working in public health do the lifesaving work that prevents infectious diseases from spreading and stops outbreaks before they start," said AFSCME President Lee Saunders.
"This administration is once again putting our communities at risk for the sake of political retribution, defunding the essential work AFSCME members do simply because of who voters elected to represent them in government,” he also said.
These funding cuts will have immediate consequences not only for public health workers, but for the communities they serve.
State and local health departments rely on these federal grants to support disease monitoring, emergency preparedness and programs designed to address ongoing public health challenges.
According to the lawsuit, the administration’s actions are part of a broader pattern of using federal funding to punish states, cities and communities whose policies or political leadership the president has criticized. The challenged directive ordered agencies to identify funding flowing to a list of states and to take steps to cut or claw back that funding.
“These lawfully appropriated federal funds support the jobs of countless AFSCME members whose work protects public health at the state and local levels,” said Roberta Lynch, executive director of AFSCME Council 31. “Their jobs and our communities should not suffer from illegal political retaliation.”
The case, AFSCME v. Vought, asks the court to declare the directive and grant terminations unlawful and to block the administration from implementing the funding cuts.
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