AFSCME Sues to Stop Politically Motivated Termination of Public Health Grants

 

Chicago — The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and its Illinois affiliate, 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 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 complaint alleges that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) directed federal agencies to identify and terminate grants in states the administration has repeatedly targeted for political retaliation. Acting on that directive, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the CDC moved to terminate more than $600 million in public health grants supporting disease surveillance, HIV prevention, public health infrastructure, health data systems improvements, and other programs essential to protecting community health. This lawsuit follows a previous challenge brought by AFSCME and Democracy Forward to the Trump-Vance administration’s unlawful freeze of $10 billion in child care and family assistance funding targeting several Democratic-led states.

 

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.

 

The lawsuit further alleges that federal officials attempted to manufacture a justification for the funding cuts after the decision had already been made. According to the complaint, HHS and CDC officials used an artificial intelligence tool to generate reports claiming that the selected grants no longer aligned with agency priorities, even though those grants had already been singled out for termination.

 

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. The complaint also explains that these funding cuts will have immediate consequences for public health workers and 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. Without this funding, essential public service workers will lose their jobs, and the communities they serve will suffer as a result.

 

“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. "But 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. Disease does not discriminate based on party affiliation, and funding for public health infrastructure shouldn’t either. We’re filing this lawsuit to stop essential workers, patients and vulnerable communities from being harmed just to settle the president's political scores.”

 

“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.”

 

“Public health should not be political and yet this administration is using critical federal funding as a political weapon,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. “Congress appropriated these funds to help communities track disease, prevent outbreaks, and protect public health. Now, the administration has targeted critical programs in certain states and then attempted to manufacture a justification after the fact. Public health workers and the communities they serve should not be caught in the middle of political retaliation. We are honored to fight alongside public health workers and their unions to challenge this unlawful directive.”

 

The lawsuit argues that the administration’s actions violate the Administrative Procedure Act and the Constitution, that federal agencies lack authority to withhold congressionally appropriated funds for political reasons, and that the directive unlawfully retaliates against disfavored states.

 

The case asks the court to declare the directive and grant terminations unlawful and to block the administration from implementing the funding cuts.

 

The case is AFSCME v. Vought, and the legal team at Democracy Forward includes Joel McElvain, Cortney Robinson Henderson, Shiva Kooragayala, Kristen Miller, and Yenisey Rodríguez. AFSCME is also represented by in-house attorneys Matthew Blumin and Georgina Yeomans.

 

Read the complaint here.

 

###