Office of Management and Budget Directs Agencies to Cut Transportation and Public Health Grants in California 

Following the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) recent memo to federal agencies directing them to review federal funding in 14 states, including California, the New York Post reports that officials have directed the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to freeze $1.5 billion in grants spanning California, Colorado, Illinois and Minnesota. Notably, these same states are among the five targeted by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in early January for a freeze of Social Services Block Grant (SSBG), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF/CalWORKs) and Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF). 

At the time of this writing, only the DOT had confirmed the cuts, and neither agency has publicly issued formal letters advising grantees of the terminations. However, the New York Post cites an OMB spokesperson who affirmed that the states were being targeted for “waste and mismanagement” of taxpayer funds. The OMB spokesperson added that more grant cancellations were expected. 

According to the piece, OMB is targeting the following grants in California for termination: 

• $15 million for robust, accessible, and equitable EV charging network for disadvantaged communities in nine counties around San Francisco. 
• $2 million set aside for the California’s climate change adaptation” plans. 
• $1.1 million from Los Angeles County for an HIV behavioral survey initially funded in 2022. 
• Hundreds of thousands of federal dollars for California universities to conduct research on reducing social isolation among older LGBTQ adults, Creating Medical Trust with Latinx Communities, and a National Transgender Health Summit. 
• $337,000 from a City of San Francisco grant to be paid out for intersectional climate adaptation.