HHS Order Cutting States’ Public Health Funds Remains Blocked (1)

The US Department of Health and Human Services can’t withhold about $11 billion in grants appropriated by Congress to fund various state public health programs while awaiting trial on the agency’s actions, a federal court said Friday.

Judge Mary S. McElroy of the US District Court for the District of Rhode Island extended a temporary block on the agency’s refusal to provide the money, saying the plaintiff states showed they were likely to win on the merits of their statutory and constitutional challenge.

The funds, McElroy wrote in granting the preliminary injunction, grappled with infectious disease outbreaks, including measles and ...