By Thelma Grimes | Colorado Politics
Colorado joined yet another coalition of 18 states in filing a court brief supporting the legal challenge to two of President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility programs, even as a federal court blocked cuts to public health grants.
In the case involving public health funding, U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy in Rhode Island granted a temporary restraining order against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services terminating $11 billion in public health grants, including $229 million in Colorado.
That lawsuit, filed April 1 by 23 states and the District of Columbia, argued that cutting billions in federal money from state public health departments would decimate health infrastructure across the country. The money, allocated by Congress during the pandemic, supported COVID-19 initiatives and mental health and substance abuse efforts.