Judge blocks Trump administration move to cut $600 million in HIV funding from states

"A federal judge on Thursday blocked a Trump administration order slashing $600 million in federal grant funding for HIV programs in California and three other states, finding merit in the states' argument that the move was politically motivated by disagreements over unrelated state sanctuary policies. U.S. District Judge Manish Shah, an Obama appointee in Illinois, found that California, Colorado, Illinois and Minnesota were likely to succeed in arguing that President Trump and other administration officials targeted the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funding for termination "based on arbitrary, capricious, or unconstitutional rationales.""

"Namely, Shah wrote that while Trump administration officials said the programs were cut for breaking with CDC priorities, other "recent statements" by officials "plausibly suggest that the reason for the direction is hostility to what the federal government calls 'sanctuary jurisdictions' or 'sanctuary cities.'" Shah found that the states had shown they would "suffer irreparable harm" from the cuts, and that the public interest would not be harmed by temporarily halting them - and as a result granted the states a temporary restraining order halting the administration's action for 14 days while the litigation continues."

Judge Manish Shah temporarily halted a Trump administration directive to terminate $600 million in CDC grant funding for HIV programs in California, Colorado, Illinois and Minnesota. Shah concluded the states were likely to prevail in showing the administration targeted the funding "based on arbitrary, capricious, or unconstitutional rationales" and noted recent statements suggesting hostility toward so-called "sanctuary jurisdictions" as a possible motive. The states demonstrated they would "suffer irreparable harm" from the cuts, and the public interest would not be harmed by a temporary halt. Shah also said jurisdictional limits may affect review of simple grant terminations, but he could enjoin directives grounded in unconstitutional reasons.

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