California continues the cuts to financing the infectious diseases of the CDC

California and a coalition of other states continued the Trump administration on Tuesday to reduce the billions of dollars in federal public health subsidies designed to make states more resilient to infectious diseases, and accused the administration of exceeding its authority by recovering funding already allocated by the Congress.

The withdrawal of funding is a devastating success for local health services, many of which are faced with large and new epidemics ranging from COVID-19 to bird flu and measles. Agencies in California alone lose nearly a billion dollars.

“Congress explicitly authorized the funding of subsidies in question to help keep our country healthy and protect us from future pandemics,” California Atty. General Rob Bonta said, and the secretary of health and social services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “cannot unilaterally delete this critical federal funding”.

Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention informed health agencies in the 50 states – including California Department of Public Health – which it suspended more than $ 11 billion in grants which it had previously provided to support the responses of state infectious diseases during the Pandemic COVID -19. Since the pandemic calmed down, states have continued to use the financing of a range of infectious initiatives.

The trial, tabled against Kennedy and the Department of Health and Social Services of the Federal Rhode Court by California, 23 other states and the Columbia district, is the last of a series of disputes deposited by the States led by Democrat against the administration in the midst of a wave of political projects and other financing reductions that Trump has tried to launch by executive orders and other dictates in January.

Several of the previous prosecution of the States also allegedly alleged that Trump illegally seizes financing powers which belong to the congress, not to the executive branch. Tuesday’s trial alleys that the Trump administration is in violation of the administrative procedure law and requests a temporary ban order which would immediately restore the financing of public health at its previously allocated levels.

The Bonta office said that the cuts – which included $ 972 million in California – would cause “irreparable damage” to states if they were allowed to stand up.

He said the California Department of Public Health would lose $ 800 million which he planned to use in part to vaccinate 4.5 million children and improve logistical preparation to direct patient and injured patients from hospitals to other health establishments available during emergencies.

The office said California Department of Health Care Services would lose $ 119 million which he intended to use toxicomomania and other health interventions for young people from the state. He also said that the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health would lose $ 45 million, which he intended to use in part to prevent the spread of measles and bird flu.

A county spokesperson said that financing reductions would eliminate staff who try to mitigate the distribution of diseases in homeless shelters, schools, prisons and sites; Cross the work of the county infectious disease team to provide vaccines and other health care to residents confined to home, the elderly developments in housing, senior centers and other confined to life facilities; And prevent improvements in county data systems and other infrastructure necessary to follow infectious diseases and share information in time with the public.

Some of these system improvements are already underway, which means that the reduction in funding will now waste past investments, in addition to increasing the probability of system failures during emergencies, the spokesperson said.

CDC financing reductions are part of a much greater effort from the Trump administration and the “Elon Musk’s effectiveness” advisor, to radically reduce federal expenses, in part to pay tax reductions which, according to criticism, will benefit in a disproportionate to the rich.

Musk, the richest man in the world, and his department of effectiveness of the government, which are not a real government department, have had access to sensitive government facilities, computer networks and other data and have been authorized to reduce government budgets – which California also pursues.

CDC cuts are not the first to public health. Kennedy also announced his intention to reduce the workforce of the Health Department by some 20,000 employees, and the Trump administration intends to close various health and social services buildings – including in California.

Tuesday, the representative Nancy Pelosi (D -San Francisco) published a declaration denouncing what she called a “decision reported to close” a regional health and social services office in San Francisco by Kennedy, whom she described as “the main denial of vaccination of the Trump administration” – a sign of head to its previous adoption of the vaccinal pseudoscience of have largely rejected and criticized.

“By closing our regional office, the Trump administration would choose to put the health and safety of residents of the Bay region and all Californians in danger and vital public health initiatives such as the Ryan White HIV / AIDS program, and potentially hundreds of career jobs occupying Californians workers,” said Pelosi.

She said that “Kennedy’s extreme opinions on public health are out of step with the vast majority of the American people”, that the “short -seen” closure “would directly harm our most vulnerable communities and make America more patient” and that it and others would fight closure and other public health cuts.

Tuesday’s trial is the ninth that the Bonta office filed against the current Trump administration. He also supported the litigants against the administration in at least half a dozen other cases.

California has been on the ground zero for H5N1 bird flu since last March. Thirty-eight state people were infected with the virus, most of them were exposed when they worked with infected cows or milk. However, two of the people were children; The cause of their infection was not determined. The virus also infected 758 dairy herds – or more than 75% of the total state -making herds.

There have been eight cases of measles in California since the beginning of the year, in addition to the thousands of seasonal flu, COVID-19, Norovirus and other cases of respiratory viruses.