Because the Trump administration continues its makes an attempt to impose circumstances on federal grants, a coalition of 60 native governments — together with the counties of Santa Clara, Alameda and San Mateo — is asking a federal choose to dam the U.S. Division of Well being and Human Providers from including stipulations to grants that would put lots of of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in danger within the area.
Since taking workplace earlier this yr, President Donald Trump has issued a slew of government orders that require grant recipients to conform together with his agenda — for instance, prohibiting packages that help abortion, gender ideology and variety, fairness, and inclusion, and making certain compliance with federal immigration enforcement.
An amended grievance filed on July 10 builds on an preliminary lawsuit from Might that opposed circumstances being positioned on grants from the Division of Housing and City Improvement and the Division of Transportation. The lawsuit, led by King County, Washington, was filed within the U.S. District Court docket for the Western District of Washington.
On June 3, U.S. District Court docket Decide Barbara J. Rothstein granted a preliminary injunction within the preliminary case, stopping the Trump administration from imposing circumstances on federal grants from HUD and the DOT.
Now, the coalition is seeking to defend funding from HHS, which is the most important grant-making company in the USA.
In response to the amended lawsuit, the Trump administration’s “unlawful attempts to repurpose federal grant programs established by Congress harm Plaintiffs by threatening more than $12 billion in already-awarded and soon to be awarded funds” throughout HUD, DOT and HHS.
Kavita Narayan, the chief assistant county counsel for Santa Clara County, stated federal regulation requires that any circumstances positioned on grants should be associated to the aim of the funding.
Trump’s limitations, she stated in an interview, “in addition to being antithetical to our values, have absolutely no relationship to health care funding. Health care as a safety net provider of county services is something that we really care deeply about and view as one of our most fundamental responsibilities that the community counts on us for.”
A number of different Bay Space jurisdictions which have joined within the lawsuit, together with San Jose, Oakland and Pacifica. Santa Clara County and San Francisco, stand to see the largest fiscal impacts if Trump is ready to add circumstances on HHS grants.
Santa Clara County receives greater than $275 million in grant funding yearly from HHS, with two-thirds of that going to the county’s social providers company to help baby abuse prevention initiatives, foster younger packages, adoption providers and packages for seniors and people with disabilities. The remaining $68 million in HHS funding goes towards a wide range of public well being packages that goal to stop infectious illness and help maternal and baby well being, amongst different packages.
Santa Clara Valley Healthcare — the county-run well being and hospital system — can also be going through an estimated $1 billion in misplaced income within the coming years on account of cuts to Medicaid in what Trump dubbed his “big, beautiful bill.”
San Francisco receives roughly $325 million of HHS grants annual, together with $90 million from the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, $48 million from Well being Assets and Providers Administration, $19 million from Substance Abuse and Psychological Well being Providers Administration and $148 million from the Administration for Youngsters and Households.
The most recent grievance over HHS grants is a part of a slew of lawsuits filed by Santa Clara County and San Francisco towards the Trump administration this yr. Native governments are more and more turning into events to all these lawsuits because the Supreme Court docket just lately restricted federal judges’ energy to grant nationwide injunctions.
