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鈥淲e won a court order blocking the Trump administration from slashing over $11 billion in funding for pandemic preparedness, overdose prevention, and community health programs,鈥� New York Attorney General Letitia James wrote on X shortly after the decision. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to continue our lawsuit to protect the health and well-being of millions of Americans.鈥�

The lawsuit filed April 1 sought to immediately halt , alleging that it would decimate public health infrastructure across the country. The money, allocated by Congress during the pandemic, supported COVID-19 initiatives and efforts.

The federal government argued that because the pandemic is over, the states no longer need the money. But McElroy, who granted a temporary restraining order last month in the case, wrote in her decision that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services doesn’t have the power to decide that money isn’t necessary anymore.

She went on to say that the agency ignored multiple requirements that govern how block grant programs are terminated, calling the federal government’s argument for how it handled the situation 鈥減uzzling.鈥�

McElroy wrote that the federal government’s decision to rescind the money isn’t just an economic loss 鈥� 鈥渁mple evidence鈥� provided by the states shows that it will decimate “key mental health, substance abuse, and other healthcare programs ... worsening public health outcomes and placing their residents at risk.鈥�

She pointed to several instances of what the money funded, like vaccination efforts and building up disease surveillance and labs for 鈥渇uture health threats,鈥� before writing, 鈥淭he Court could go on.鈥�

The injunction only applies to the states involved in the lawsuit. The federal government must file documentation that they’re complying with the order by Tuesday evening.

Health departments across the country have said they’ve laid off employees after the Trump administration began to claw back the money in late March.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute鈥檚 Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.