Dallas County has filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., challenging the termination of pandemic-era public health grants approved by Congress.
The lawsuit, filed December 5 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, seeks declaratory and injunctive relief, arguing the executive branch unlawfully rescinded grant funding that had been authorized by Congress.
According to the complaint, Dallas County lost approximately $4 million in federal funding after the Trump administration ordered a mass termination of “COVID-related” CDC grants on March 24, 2025.
The county received the funds as a subrecipient through the Texas Department of State Health Services and used them to support infectious disease surveillance, laboratory capacity, and outbreak response programs administered by Dallas County Health & Human Services.
Dallas County argues the grants were not limited to emergency pandemic response and were intended to strengthen long-term public health preparedness, including the ability to detect and respond to future disease outbreaks.
The complaint states the funding remained authorized even after the federal COVID-19 public health emergency declaration expired in 2023 and had been extended through 2026.
The lawsuit challenges what it describes as a “mass termination decision,” alleging federal officials eliminated the grants without individualized review, without issuing a for-cause termination, and in violation of federal grant regulations and the Administrative Procedure Act.
Dallas County also raises constitutional claims, arguing the executive branch lacks authority to unilaterally cancel congressionally appropriated funds and that doing so violates separation-of-powers principles under the U.S. Constitution.
The county is asking the court to vacate the grant terminations and order federal agencies to reinstate the funding. The case is assigned to Christopher R. Cooper, a judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
As of publication, federal officials named in the lawsuit had not publicly responded.
