A district judge restored about $20 million in public health funding to Harris County and a coalition of local governments after ruling in their favor in a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee announced Tuesday.
Harris County was set to lose funding for disease surveillance, immunization outreach and community health worker programs. Cuts also jeopardized mobile vaccination clinics and the county’s capacity to track more than 80 infectious diseases, including measles, mpox, zika and tuberculosis.
The court ruled the department overstepped its authority by cutting $11 billion in total funding Congress had already appropriated and local governments had already begun to implement, a news release from Menefee read.
“This ruling is a win for Harris County residents and public health departments across the country,” Menefee wrote in the release. “The federal government cannot simply ignore Congress and pull the plug on essential services that communities rely on. Today’s decision ensures we can keep doing the work that protects our residents — from tracking disease outbreaks to providing vaccinations and supporting vulnerable families.”
See here and here for some background, and here for the full statement from the Harris County Attorney’s office. Harris County has also gotten refugee health grant funds back after filing a lawsuit, and signed onto an amicus brief over broader NIH cuts. I don’t know what the status of that last one is, but two out of three so far ain’t bad. Keep fighting.