The ruling is the latest in a series of federal court interventions blocking the Trump administration from cutting health and social-service funding to organizations whose public positions conflict with administration priorities.
A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to restore nearly $12 million in grants to the American Academy of Pediatrics on Sunday, finding that the Health and Human Services Department likely acted with a “retaliatory motive” when it terminated funding to the pediatric group in December.
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell of Washington, D.C., issued a preliminary injunction siding with AAP, ruling that the group had shown it would likely suffer irreparable harm from the cuts and that the public interest favored allowing the programs to continue while the underlying lawsuit proceeds.
“This is not a case about whether AAP or HHS is right or even has the better position on vaccinations and gender-affirming care for children, or any other public health policy,” Howell wrote in her decision. “This is a case about whether the federal government has exercised power in a manner designed to chill public health policy debate by retaliating against a leading and generally trusted pediatrician member professional organization focused on improving the health of children.”
What the grants funded
The seven grants HHS terminated in December supported multiple public health programs, including efforts to prevent sudden unexpected infant death, strengthen pediatric care in rural communities, and support teenagers facing substance use and mental health challenges.
HHS said in letters to AAP that the grants were terminated because they no longer aligned with the department’s priorities. The department denied AAP’s allegations of retaliation. An HHS spokesperson and attorneys representing the department declined to comment on the ruling.
AAP’s public stance and its divergence from HHS
AAP has been vocal in its support for pediatric vaccines and has publicly opposed HHS positions on gender-affirming care for children, saying it opposes what it describes as government infringements on the doctor-patient relationship.
The group last year released its own COVID-19 vaccine recommendations that substantially diverged from federal guidance. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — who helped lead the anti-vaccine movement for years — has made sweeping changes to childhood vaccine recommendations since joining the administration.
AAP alleged the December grant terminations were direct retaliation for that public dissent.
Representation and next steps
Democracy Forward, the legal advocacy organization representing AAP, said the ruling marks a checkpoint in an ongoing fight. Skye Perryman, the organization’s president and chief executive officer, said that “no administration gets to silence doctors, undermine public health, or put kids at risk, and we will not stop fighting until this unlawful retaliation is fully ended.”
The preliminary injunction preserves AAP’s funding while the underlying lawsuit continues.