Billions of dollars in grant funding from the Department of Health and Human Services have been reportedly delayed by new approval requirements.
HHS funding opportunities are being held up by a new multi-step approval process, which critics have argued places strain on important health programs that rely on federal funds, according to a joint report by Spotlight PA and NOTUS.
“If we start to see these delays extended because of these approvals, things will have to stop,” Lori Tremmel Freeman, CEO of the National Association of County and City Health Officials, told the outlets.
Funding opportunities are now required to pass an AI screening process — which will flag words like “culture,” “gender,” and “transgender” — and receive multiple sign-offs, including from an HHS assistant secretary, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s office and the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, the report said.
Democratic Senator Patty Murray told NOTUS the agency is “undermining America’s edge in research, holding up funding for front-line responders, and denying resources and services to communities because of politics.”
“Putting a Trump-appointed goon in front of every basic grant that is otherwise ready to go is nothing short of self-sabotage,” she added.
When reached for comment, an HHS spokesperson told The Independent: “All Notices of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs) follow the standard review and approval process.”
“Once finalized, HHS will release remaining notices of funding opportunities for Fiscal Year 2026,” the spokesperson added.
HHS has also announced multiple funding initiatives in recent weeks. That includes millions in funding for programs to combat Lyme Disease, and $700 million to help address “mental illness, addiction, homelessness,” according to press releases from the agency.
This report on HHS grants comes about two weeks after The New York Times published a bombshell story suggesting Kennedy is “checked out” from his role leading the agency. In response, the 72-year-old hit out at the newspaper, accusing it of publishing an “unfair, inimical, and inaccurate” piece.
“All one needs to refute your argument is to glance at my publicly available calendar and to review my unprecedented list of accomplishments on a wide range of issues, all of which I drove,” Kennedy wrote on X.
