Trump Administration Now Cutting Public Health Grants In Minnesota

Since the beginning of the year, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has repeatedly characterized the Trump administration's "Operation Metro Surge", the large-scale deployment of federal immigration agents to Minnesota, as being a part of a "federal retribution campaign," serving as political punishment for Minnesota's resistance to Trump's policies and its history of voting against him.

Walz has claimed that the federal presence is harming small businesses and causing "economic destruction."

Now, a report indicates that a total of $600 million in health funding is being cut in four states, including Minnesota, which Governor Walz believes is yet another action that is part of the larger campaign of retribution against the state and other states that have voted against the president and fought his policies.

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$600 Million in Health Funding to Reportedly Be Cut From Four States

A report was published by the New York Times claiming the Trump administration plans to rescind $600 million in public health funds from four states led by Democrats because it finds the grants “inconsistent with agency priorities,” according to documents they reviewed. The amount was first reported by The New York Post.

The programs scheduled to be cut are in Minnesota, California, Colorado, and Illinois.  They include grants to state and local public health departments as well as to some nongovernmental organizations. A list of the cuts was reportedly shared with relevant congressional committees on Monday, February 9, 2026.

Around two dozen of the grants that are set to be terminated reportedly support the prevention of sexually transmitted infections, such as H.I.V. The funds are administered through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The New York Times says other grants targeted to be cut include those given for hiring staff, modernizing data systems, and programs aimed at the needs of specific communities, such as Black women and LGBTQ youth and adults.

The CDC priorities section on the agency's website reads that the agency had "previously invested substantially in ideologically-laden concepts like health equity – mainly on identifying and documenting worse health outcomes for minority populations. This has not translated into measurable improved health for minority populations, and in many cases has undermined core American values."

It's worth noting that nearly two-thirds of the funding being cut is unspent money allocated to state and local public health departments in California, so what impact Minnesota and the other states will feel is yet unclear.

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According to the New York Times, Dr. Deb Houry, who served as the C.D.C.’s chief medical officer before resigning last summer, voiced her concern for the cuts, considering that Congress had already appropriated the funds.

“It is concerning that H.H.S. is cutting public health funding to local communities that cover core functions in the middle of a measles outbreak and other health threats,” she said. “This, coupled with large staffing cuts to federal public health, leaves communities less prepared.”