States and health organizations are waiting for $211 million in grants to grow their 988 suicide hotline capacities, $75 million to build out global disease outbreak response, $3 million to build treatment centers for opioid addiction and $95 million for programs that “improve the overall performance of the public health system.” And the list goes on.
The Trump administration is holding up billions in grant funding because of a new political review process that goes up through Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the White House.
To get congressionally approved dollars out the door, all HHS funding opportunities must first clear an AI screening which flags certain keywords that the administration finds unacceptable, such as culture, harm reduction, gender and transgender. Then they’re sent to an HHS assistant secretary for financial review for approval before going to Kennedy’s office.