\n As public health departments across the country prepared for a massive winter storm this weekend, notice landed in their inboxes that pivotal grant funding from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was paused. No more money could be spent.\n <\/p>\n
\n Within hours, a US Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson confirmed to CNN that the pause had been lifted, although grant recipients said they had yet to get an update from HHS.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt\u2019s just more chaos, more uncertainty,\u201d said Dr. Phil Huang, director of Dallas County Health and Human Services in Texas. \u201cIt just interferes with our ability to provide these public health services to our community.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n No grants were terminated, according to HHS.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe Public Health Infrastructure Grants were temporarily paused so HHS could implement a new review process, one that will ensure funds are used for their intended purposes and in alignment with agency priorities,\u201d HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said in an email to CNN. \u201cHHS will continue to protect taxpayer money and ensure they are used for legitimate purposes.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n According to the CDC<\/a>, the grants funded health departments in 50 states and Washington, DC, eight territories and 48 large localities. As of December 2025, $5.1 billion had been awarded: $4.7 billion to 107 health departments and $382 million to national partners. Funds are used for lab testing, responding to and preparing for emergencies and direct patient care. They paid for thousands of public health jobs across the country.\n <\/p>\n \n For several hours Saturday, it seemed that this funding pause would come on top of cuts to Covid-era funding<\/a> that states and local governments absorbed last year.\n <\/p>\n \n Huang said Dallas County\u2019s grant, worth more than $2 million, was used for key systems for disease investigation and surveillance, vaccine management \u2013 including check-in systems for large public vaccination events \u2013 and everyday activities like patient transportation.\n <\/p>\n \n There are already systems in place to track spending and ensure that money is used as intended, public health officials said.\n <\/p>\n