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9 min ago News analysis

With some federal funding cuts paused, others are in limbo

Maine Senators Susan Collins and Angus King File photos U.S. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Angus King, I-Maine
By Tina Fischer

A judge has issued a temporary restraining order against the Trump administration’s elimination of nearly $11 billion in funding for programs through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes for Health.

In response to a recent lawsuit filed by 22 state attorneys general, U.S. District Court of Rhode Island Judge Mary S. McElroy last week ruled to suspend the cuts.

In Maine, the cuts would impact nearly $91 million in funding from six grant programs at the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Office of Behavioral Health, and were anticipated to have significant effects on a range of essential services and jobs.

Maine Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Sara Gagné-Holmes had warned at the time the funding cuts were announced, “The termination of these grants will compromise Maine’s ability to respond to disease outbreaks, maintain vaccine availability, address health disparities, and support community-based health workforce efforts. Additionally, these cuts threaten critical planned investments in mental health and substance use disorder services.”

In related action, the federal DHHS announced April 1 that it was eliminating the entire staff in charge of administering the $4.1 billion home heating and energy assistance program known as LIHEAP. 

Close to 90% of the dollars appropriated for this year had by October already been sent to states. There is an estimated $378 million left to be administered and to date, those funds have not yet been frozen.

In Maine the program provides critical funding to more than 51,000 low-income households, according to U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st district. 

Response from Maine lawmakers was swift.

On April 3 U.S. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Angus King, I-Maine, joined 12 senators in sending a letter to DHHS secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., urging the administration to reinstate the LIHEAP staff.

“Access to affordable home energy is a matter of health and safety for many low-income households, children, and seniors," the senators wrote. "To that end, we urge you to reverse course on any staffing or funding cuts that would jeopardize the distribution of these funds to our constituents.”

A day later, 92 Maine legislators signed a letter initiated by state Rep.Tavis R. Hasenfus, D-Readfield, to DHHS secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., urging he reverse the decision. The letter stated: 

“While the funding for LIHEAP that was approved by Congress remains intact, we are deeply concerned that decimating the staff that administers the program not only usurps the constitutional authority of Congress – but that it will have devastating impacts on Mainers and make it harder for those who rely on LIHEAP to afford to heat their homes during the long, cold winter months that our state experiences.”

As of Monday morning, there was no response from the DHHS.

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