Judge Orders HHS To Continue to Pay Infectious Disease Grants

A federal judge blocked the US Department of Health and Human Services from terminating pandemic-era infectious disease grant funding to four local governments while a lawsuit against the department plays out.

Columbus, Ohio; Kansas City, Mo.; Nashville, Tenn; and Harris County, Texas have secured a preliminary injunction against the HHS after the department abruptly cut off Covid-19-era grant funding while still owing the municipalities payments.

“The Executive Branch does not have such broad power to refuse to spend appropriated funds,” US District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Christopher R. Cooper wrote in his Tuesday decision.

The funds, ...