Attorney General Bonta Secures Preliminary Injunction in Trump Administration Lawsuit over Unlawful Termination of $11 Billion in Critical Public Health Funding

Court order continues blocking termination of federal funds appropriated by Congress

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today released a statement in response to the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island’s decision to issue a preliminary injunction that continues blocking the unlawful termination of $11 billion in critical public health funding by the Trump Administration’s U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Among its findings, the court concluded that the federal government had “clearly usurped Congress’s authority to spend and allocate funds.” The preliminary injunction is in effect with respect to the plaintiff states and the District of Columbia until further order by the court. 

“Left unchallenged, California alone would lose more than $972 million from these illegal cancellations by HHS. We will not allow that to happen,” said Attorney General Bonta. “We are pleased that, after granting our motion for a temporary restraining order last month, the court has now issued a preliminary injunction that ensures this critical federal funding can continue flowing to our state and local public health agencies while our litigation proceeds. Critically, the court also noted that we are likely to succeed on the merits of our claims.” 

On April 1, Attorney General Bonta announced co-leading a coalition of 23 states and the District of Columbia in filing a lawsuit against the Trump Administration’s HHS and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. over the unlawful termination of public health funding. Beginning on March 24, 2025, HHS abruptly, with no advance notice or warning, issued termination notices to state and local public health agencies across the country, purporting to end federal funding for grants that provide essential support for a wide range of urgent public health needs, including identifying, tracking, and addressing infectious diseases; ensuring access to immunizations; and modernizing critical public health infrastructure. 

Filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, the lawsuit alleges that the termination notices are unlawful in several ways under the Administrative Procedure Act. The federal funding was appropriated by Congress to ensure the United States is better prepared for future public health threats. According to the Trump Administration, funding for the grants is “no longer necessary” because the grants were appropriated through one or more COVID-19 related laws, and the COVID-19 pandemic is over. The coalition secured the temporary restraining order on April 3.

A copy of the court’s order can be found here.