Healey, State Leadership Criticize Trump’s Latest Cuts to Public Health Funding

The Healey-Driscoll Administration condemned President Trump’s Wednesday termination of more than $12 billion in public health grants, following funding cuts at the Harvard School of Public Health.

These grants fund programs that track infectious diseases, provide mental health services, substance abuse treatment, and other urgent health related issues. In Massachusetts, the grants were expected to bring in almost $100 million to support the State Public Health Laboratory, which has been administering treatment and testing for respiratory diseases.

Beyond the State Public Health Laboratory, the governor’s office wrote that much of the funding enters directly into the hands of community health centers across the state to ensure they have the resources to care for patients.

In the press release, Massachusetts Governor Maura T. Healey ’92 criticized the administration’s actions as counterproductive, and said the cuts put the health of citizens across the nation at risk.

“Donald Trump was elected and promised to make life cheaper, healthier and easier for people, but he’s taking us backwards on all of those fronts,” Healey said in the press release. “We will continue to assess the full impacts and are in touch with the Attorney General’s Office and the 49 other states facing similar challenges.”

Healey took to X on Wednesday to further her opposition to the federal administration’s motions.

“This is yet another example of President Trump and Elon Musk undermining the health and wellbeing of the people of Massachusetts and people across this nation,” she wrote.

Kate Walsh, Massachusetts Secretary of Health and Human Services emphasized the importance of this funding.

“Strong public health infrastructure helps states prevent, monitor and manage outbreaks and divert resources where they’re needed to keep us safe from a wide range of diseases, including the ongoing bird flu outbreak,” Walsh said in the press release.

Trump’s latest divestment from public health infrastructure comes as the administration’s funding cuts are also affecting public health research across the nation. The Harvard School of Public Health, which receives more than half its operating budget from federal and private funding, has already taken measures to cushion the blow.

As research projects have been brought to an abrupt pause, the school also cut down class sizes in several Ph.D. programs. And the Harvard Public Health Magazine, which has been operating for more than a decade, also shut its doors last month.

Robbie Goldsteein, the commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, said the latest round of funding cuts is “troubling and potentially dangerous to public health.”

“These resources fund our state lab, supplement our statewide vaccine infrastructure, and provide the support needed for community-based organizations across the state,” he said in the release. “They represent investments in the core functions of public health.”

Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll said in the release that the state “does not have the resources to replace” the funding cut by the administration.

“Massachusetts will always step up to keep people safe and healthy, but we need the federal government to work with us, not against us,” she said.

—Staff writer Megan L. Blonigen can be reached at megan.blonigen@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X at @MeganBlonigen.

—Staff writer Frances Y. Yong can be reached at frances.yong@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X at @frances_yong_.