By Nidhi Subbaraman and Liz Essley Whyte

WASHINGTON -- The Trump administration is blocking funding for a swath of public-health programs run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the latest flashpoint in a push by the White House to withhold money already approved by Congress.

The White House Office of Management and Budget issued the directions in a footnote on an appropriations memo this past week, according to people familiar with the matter. A range of programs won't be fully funded under the freeze.

These include youth violence prevention programs, research on preventing gun injuries and deaths and efforts targeting diabetes, chronic kidney disease and tobacco use.

It couldn't be determined how much the withheld money would amount to, but it could be as high as $200 million, according to one of the people familiar with the matter. Another person familiar estimated the amount to be more than $300 million.

OMB recently moved to block about $15 billion in research funding from the National Institutes of Health using a similar footnote mechanism. The office reversed course after senior White House officials intervened, The Wall Street Journal previously reported.

An OMB spokeswoman said the CDC money is undergoing a programmatic review because the office is still waiting on CDC's spending plan. A spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, which includes the CDC, referred questions to OMB.

CDC sent a spending plan to OMB earlier this year, a former CDC official said.

The federal government's fiscal year is nearing its Sept. 30 close, leading some lawmakers to worry that the congressionally appropriated money won't be spent.

Russ Vought, the director of OMB, has clashed with lawmakers of both parties over his threats to withhold appropriations. He holds to a legal theory that says congressional appropriations are a ceiling, not a floor, for spending, and that the president has the power to decide not to spend funds.

Congress in July approved the White House's rescissions proposal to claw back $9 billion of funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting. Vought has said he wants to cut more funding, with or without Congress's help. If Vought were to attempt to withhold appropriations permanently without approval from lawmakers, such a move would likely lead to a battle in the courts.

OMB took down a website in March that made detailed appropriations information available to the public.

Sen. Patty Murray (D., Wash.), the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, pointed to the blocked CDC funding as a further reason that the administration should restore the website that tracks spending.

"The American people deserve accountability for these reckless decisions -- and they deserve transparency about how their taxpayer dollars are being used," she said.

Write to Nidhi Subbaraman at nidhi.subbaraman@wsj.com and Liz Essley Whyte at liz.whyte@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 01, 2025 17:57 ET (21:57 GMT)

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