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By Gabe Whisnant and Sonam Sheth
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Federal health officials said they are cutting $11.4 billion in COVID-19-related funds for state and local public health departments.
"The COVID-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a nonexistent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago," the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement Tuesday.
The Context
Congress initially approved funding for state public health programs through pandemic relief legislation. The money was first directed toward coronavirus testing, vaccinations, and addressing health disparities in vulnerable populations.
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But starting last year, states were permitted to use the funds for a broader range of urgent public health needs, including monitoring and testing for other respiratory viruses, providing vaccines for children and uninsured adults and strengthening preparedness for future health emergencies.
What To Know
The HHS statement said that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) expects to recover the funds 30 days from Monday, when the termination notices were sent out.
"No additional activities can be conducted, and no additional costs may be incurred, as it relates to these funds," the termination notices said, according to The New York Times.
These latest cuts come as the Trump administration and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) work to dramatically shrink the size of the federal bureaucracy.
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The cuts have affected almost every federal agency, including the HHS, which includes the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration.
In the Trump administration's early days, thousands of federal employees doing critical work—overseeing the U.S. nuclear stockpile, researching and working to prevent bird flu, overseeing food safety and more—were abruptly laid off before being rehired.
The Times reported that the latest discontinued grants include $11.4 billion from the CDC and $1 billion from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
State health agencies are preparing to lay off dozens of data scientists and epidemiologists in light of the cuts. Some state health officials expect to lose up to 90 percent of staffers working on infectious disease teams, the report said.
What People Are Saying
Former Washington state Health Secretary Dr. Umair Shah told The New York Times: "The reality is that, when we take funding away from public health systems, the systems just do not have the capacity, because they're chronically underfunded over the decades."
What Happens Next
The CDC anticipates that it will have recovered the funds in a month.
Update 3/26/25, 5:33 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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