The White House Office of Management and Budget has ordered the CDC to revoke $602 million in funding from Colorado, Illinois, California and Minnesota.
The OMB sent a directive to the CDC regarding the matter Feb. 5, according to a Feb. 6 report from The Hill. In a statement to the news outlet, the OMB linked the decision to what it called “waste and mismanagement” of taxpayer funds in the Democratic-led states. Becker’s has also reached out to OMB and HHS for more information regarding the cuts.
In a Feb. 5 directive, the OMB also ordered the Department of Transportation to cancel more than $943 million in funding to the four states.
According to The Hill, the CDC funding cuts include $3 million meant to address COVID-19 disparities among racial and ethnic minorities in Colorado, $5.2 million meant for Chicago-based Lurie Children’s Hospital to increase the use of HIV PreEP among Black women, and $500,000 earmarked for the University of California to study state laws aimed at preventing sexual and intimate partner violence.
The move comes weeks after HHS moved in early January to halt roughly $10 billion in federal funds to the same four states, along with New York. HHS attributed the decision to concerns about fraud and misuse of funds in child care and other social safety net programs. A federal judge later blocked that funding freeze, first through a temporary restraining order and then a preliminary injunction, allowing the states to continue accessing the funds while litigation proceeds.
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