MDH commissioner: $226 million cuts to federal COVID-19 grants ‘shortsighted’

NINA MOINI: It's our top story this afternoon on Minnesota Now. State health leaders say the federal government is canceling $226 million in public health funding. It's part of an $11 billion cut to COVID-19 related grants nationwide. In a statement, the US department of Health and Human Services said, quote, "the COVID-19 pandemic is over," and called the grants a waste of taxpayer money.

For perspective from the state government, Minnesota Department of Health Commissioner Doctor Brooke Cunningham joins me now on the line. Thanks so much for your time this afternoon, commissioner.

BROOKE CUNNINGHAM: Thank you.

NINA MOINI: I'm curious to know if these funding cuts were something that you were expecting or if it came as a surprise to you.

BROOKE CUNNINGHAM: So the bulk of the monies that you are talking about, over $200 million of those monies, were going to expire next July-- at the end of July 2026. Certainly, that was on our radar. We sort of did refer to it as the COVID cliff.

But as you prepare for a cliff, you try to avoid it. And we had instituted some system changes to make sure that we could think about alternative funding, we could think about people's jobs that would be on those grants, and could we shift them over to different resources. And so we were certainly not ready for them to be yanked away from us on Tuesday, we got the notice-- but they were canceled on Monday. So there's nothing else that could be charged to those major grants by us or by our partners after Monday.

NINA MOINI: So where does that leave you, commissioner, and the plans that you had had for 2026 summer? Do you have to just expedite those? Or what's the situation?

BROOKE CUNNINGHAM: It's more than expediting. And it is really looking around and trying to say, who has braided funding? Because a lot of public health, we put multiple resources together.

We're really looking at the impacts on people. We're going to have to prioritize our programs. $226 million is about 25% of our budget, right? We're going to have to go through a serious process to decide, what can we continue to do as we aim to protect and improve the health of Minnesotans? And we're going to have to really work on the staff impacts right now.

NINA MOINI: So it was May 2023, right, that the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 is no longer a public health emergency. What do you make of the argument that, hey, it's over, we're going to pull these funds, put them somewhere else. They might be more useful-- or streamline whatever's going on with that funding. Is COVID-19 over, in your opinion?

BROOKE CUNNINGHAM: I think, frankly, that approach is shortsighted. We know, as we came into the pandemic, because public health has been historically underfunded and under-resourced, we were a little bit behind the ball. We had to catch up.

And these funds, during the pandemic, there were huge investments just so that we could catch up and protect lives. And the work wasn't done. The work wasn't done.

Some of these funds cover improvements in health information exchange. They cover AI. They cover data infrastructure. Certainly, they still continue to get vaccines and health education out to Minnesota's more vulnerable populations, right, who still face really significant barriers to achieving their optimal health. There's a lot.

We learned many lessons, for example, about congregate settings, long term care settings, all of the deaths that we saw in those settings. And so we are still working with partners in those spaces so that we are better prepared when faced with a public health pandemic or emergency in the future.

NINA MOINI: How do you think that these grants or the loss of funding here, could it affect other areas? Could it spill into other areas of the services that you are trying to provide?

BROOKE CUNNINGHAM: It could. They certainly could. I'm worried about the quote unquote "domino effect" of what will happen as we have to adjust programs. I'm certainly worried about our partners. Government has a really important role in providing core foundational public health services, but so do community-based organizations. So do our local government partners-- so towns, cities, counties.

So do tribal governments. There are going to be very significant ramifications across the board for our partners, the work that they do, and as well, because of that, Minnesotans.

NINA MOINI: And, to your point, the city of Minneapolis had said in a statement that its programs are going to be affected-- clinics and educational programs related to vaccines in general, so including, like, things like flu shots and mpox. Was this money supposed to be limited specifically to addressing COVID-19 and things related to COVID?

BROOKE CUNNINGHAM: No. It never was designed to be sort of limited. Again, we submitted a work plan last year that was approved, right? That was approved in 2024. And so some of the ways that we talk about these funds are really institutionalizing some of the lessons we learned and expanding-- because we don't see vaccine hesitancy because of all the disinformation just around COVID, right, or the traditional vaccines.

It has spread because of all the disinformation. And so this is really about broader public health strategy. It affects COVID and so much more.

NINA MOINI: Is there anything that your department is thinking about doing? We've seen others have filed lawsuits or taken things to the courts to try to get some of this back. Is that anything that's on the radar for you?

BROOKE CUNNINGHAM: I think when any organization is facing a challenge like this with this abruptness, you explore all the possibilities. I think that's what you have to do in these situations. And so everything is on the table at this point.

NINA MOINI: And if this funding remains taken away, then do you go to the state level to ask for more funding? How would you replace that funding, if in any way?

BROOKE CUNNINGHAM: You all have certainly, I'm sure, covered our state's budget situation. Clearly, the state does not have reserves. The agency doesn't have reserves to the tune of $226 million.

Certainly, we will try to be as scrappy as possible. And I have really talented and dedicated team members. While it's a hit to their morale, as hits to the morale across the public sector, we are hanging in there for Minnesotans. And it's going to be difficult.

NINA MOINI: Well, commissioner, while I have you, I want to ask about this morning, the Trump administration announced restructuring the federal Department of Health and Human Services, cutting 10,000 jobs, many of those within the Food and Drug Administration-- the FDA and the CDC. Now, they've said that the job cuts at the FDA won't affect drugs, medical devices, food reviewers, inspectors, and that this reorganization won't impact Medicare and Medicaid. What are you concerned about with this latest round of cuts to the federal government, and specific to this department?

BROOKE CUNNINGHAM: Historically, we have had a very good relationship with our federal partners. This round of cuts, many thousands of employees, makes me really concerned that there will be even greater, even deeper impacts on our partnerships. And so it is concerning, not only in the space that we've talked about for funding, but communication, overall public health strategy, and our ability to not just protect Minnesotans but protect people across the country.

NINA MOINI: It sounds like it's cutting programs pretty extensively. It's hard to have an idea of what is 10,000 jobs, or what is this many jobs-- but are you concerned about halfway cuts to entire agencies? And what impacts might that have pretty immediately to Minnesotans? Sometimes it's hard to imagine, what does all of this mean for me when I wake up tomorrow? Can you speak to that a little bit for folks?

BROOKE CUNNINGHAM: I think there have already been reported challenges in some of our communications beyond the funding. So I am worried about the partnership, in all aspects of the partnership. I'm worried about collaboration.

I'm worried about public health strategy. I am worried about, honestly, burnout and stress across the system. So, again, in these spaces, public health at our agency has been 50% federally funded. But it has been underfunded.

And so this can only contribute to greater stress. And with that, I'm afraid for worse outcomes for people.

NINA MOINI: Commissioner, thank you for your time this afternoon and sharing your perspective with us. I really appreciate it.

BROOKE CUNNINGHAM: Thank you so much.

NINA MOINI: That's Doctor Brooke Cunningham, the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Health.