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USA Today
19-02-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Civil rights groups ask court to overturn Donald Trump's anti-diversity, transgender orders
Hear this story WASHINGTON – Three civil-rights groups filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday seeking to overturn President Donald Trump's executive orders by arguing they would lose federal funding under the directives blocking spending on organizations with diversity, equity and inclusion policies. The National Urban League, the National Fair Housing Alliance and the AIDS Foundation of Chicago contend the administration is violating their rights to free speech and due process by engaging in intentional discrimination, according to the lawsuit filed by Legal Defense Fund and Lambda Legal. 'These orders are a blatant attempt to cement racial discrimination and other inequities at every level of society, with the goal of hoarding power and influence among the wealthy and among an extremist minority,' Janai Nelson, president of the Legal Defense Fund, told reporters at a Wednesday press conference. The three executive orders being challenged in the lawsuit terminate equity-related grants, forbid federally funded entities from engaging in diversity, equity and inclusion programs, and from recognizing the existence of transgender people. Trump signed the first anti-DEI order his first day in office Jan. 20 to fire all federal workers in diversity programs the order labeled discriminatory. "The previous administration has embedded deeply unpopular, inflationary, illegal and radical practices within every agency and office of the Federal Government,' the order reads. 'The injection of 'diversity, equity, and inclusion' (DEI) into our institutions has corrupted them by replacing hard work, merit and equality with a divisive and dangerous preferential hierarchy." The groups that rely heavily on federal funding said the orders would severely limit health services such as HIV treatment, fair housing, equal employment opportunities and affordable credit. 'These executive orders are malicious, unlawful, vague and unconstitutional,' Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League, told reporters. Jose Abrigo, Lambda Legal's HIV project director, said the gender ideology order repudiates the existence of transgender people and hurts their ability to get identity documents, housing and health care. 'These orders pose an existential threat to transgender people and to the organizations that offer them shelter, community and live-saving services,' Abrigo told reporters. 'Public health should never be politicized.' The National Urban league received nearly $37 million in federal funding last year, about three-quarters from the Labor Department and one-quarter from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to a federal website. The National Fair Housing Alliance received nearly $30 million in federal funding last year, nearly all from HUD. The AIDS Foundation of Chicago received about $6.8 million last year from HUD.
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Illinois Democrats vow to push back on Trump administration cuts to programs, staff
CHICAGO — Members of Illinois' Democratic delegation in Congress gathered Monday to rail against Trump administration cuts to the federal government at the direction of billionaire Elon Musk. The most recent cuts — hundreds of employees at the Federal Aviation Administration terminated — made headlines shortly before the delegation's press conference at the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, an organization that receives 84% of its $41 million budget from federal funds. Since Donald Trump's inauguration, Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency has fired thousands of federal workers and either slashed or halted funding for a number of programs. 'What is the plan? Why are they doing all this? If it's to create a fund to give tax breaks to the wealthiest people in the United States, say it. At least let us know what you're doing here,' said Sen. Dick Durbin. The lawmakers say cuts to social safety programs including Medicaid, housing assistance and food safety, are directly related to the $4.5 trillion the administration wants to give in the form of tax breaks to corporations at the expense of lower-income and middle class Americans. 'We are now sitting here today because the Republican Party is saying, 'I need to give a $4.5 trillion tax cut to the wealthiest among us, and because I've made that decision I need to figure out how to cut services to our seniors, to our veterans, cut our air traffic controllers, cut funding for research,' — do all these things that's like a Bizarro version of Sermon on the Mound,' said Rep. Sean Casten (D-Illinois). While challenges to funding cuts make their way through the courts, their impact is being felt in Chicago and across the country, from school districts to non-profits that provide health care and other services. 'These services are critical for every day citizens,' said Erica Bland with SEIU Healthcare. 'Illinois nursing homes are funded 70% with Medicaid. Illinois safety net hospitals, which provide care for the most vulnerable, are funded 50% by Medicaid. And 42% of births in the United States are funded by Medicaid.' Dan Montgomery, president and chief operating officer of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, said his mother's recent could could have been impacted by cuts. 'In her old age, she lived almost entirely on Social Security. She didn't have a lot of money when she died at home with dignity, in her house in her bed,' he said. 'It was with hospice paid for by Medicare. That situation is repeated by millions of people in this country. That's what's at risk.' Casten, among those who have pointed to the moves made so far as priorities of Project 2025, which was dismissed by Trump during his campaign, also claimed that the president would not have won election had he and Republicans 'been honest with the American people about what they wanted to do.' Casten said it's important for Democrats to continue to talk about the administration's 'unpopular ideas' and 'drive down Trump's popularity.' 'Let's get this done,' he said. 'We are in a constitutional crisis.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBS News
17-02-2025
- Health
- CBS News
Durbin, congresspeople highlight what they say would be detrimental effects of federal spending cuts
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) and other Democratic leaders shined a light Monday on how reforms at the federal government are affecting people in Illinois. The lawmakers gathered Monday at the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. Also in attendance were Democratic Illinois U.S. Reps. Jan Schakowsky, Danny Davis, Bill Foster, Robin Kelly, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Jesús "Chuy" García, Mike Quigley, Sean Casten, and Lauren Underwood, along with representatives of Citizen Action/Illinois. The lawmakers charged that by calling for cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and student aid, the Trump administration and "extremists" in Congress were seeking tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans at the expense of everyone else. The lawmakers claimed the cuts would make it harder for people to seek health care, including 3.4 million Illinois residents who rely on Medicaid. "Cutbacks in Medicaid jeopardize the future of children, the future of our parents and grandparents in nursing homes, and people who are struggling with mental illness," said Durbin. "For goodness sakes, why in the world would we do that in order to give a tax break to the wealthy?" Schakowsky had a message for Republicans on the proposed cuts. "My message to them is, make our day. Go ahead and try that. There are millions and millions of Americans who rely on these benefits for their life. They are feeling betrayed right now," she said. Durbin, along with medical officials, also said the Trump administration's actions will harm the National Institutes of Health — which gives about $1.2 billion each year to Illinois universities that research medical cures and treatments. "This is all about tax cuts for the wealthy," Durbin said. "Everything we're talking about here in terms of cutbacks in basic programs for the most deserving people in America is about generating more tax cuts for the wealthy."
Axios
06-02-2025
- Health
- Axios
Trump's funding cuts threats spark panic in HIV/AIDS community
President Trump's proposed federal funding cuts have some in the HIV and AIDS community worried their programs and organizations could be paralyzed. Why it matters: The Trump administration's sudden funding freeze last week sent groups like AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) into a panic when leaders at the nonprofit couldn't access funds. AFC gets over 80% of its funding from the federal government. A federal judge temporarily halted the administration's freeze, but fears remain. Zoom in: AFC does HIV case management, setting up HIV-positive people with medication, transportation to care, assistance with signing up for benefits and housing. The big picture: Everything from Trump's dismantling of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives within the federal government to his executive order recognizing only two sexes could affect the reporting of HIV and AIDS cases and subsequent funding. By the numbers: Illinois had more than 9,600 HIV cases diagnosed from 2016 to 2023, according to the state Department of Public Health. But new HIV diagnoses in Illinois have gone down over the last decade — nearly 1,700 new infections were reported in 2012, compared with about 1,200 in 2021. Black cisgender men led new HIV cases in 2021, with 172. White cisgender men were the second highest group, with 90 new HIV diagnoses. State of play: Trump's attacks on DEI could be especially damaging for programs like Minority AIDS initiative, which is federal funding for care for the most vulnerable populations, AFC president John Peller tells Axios. "It's supposed to focus on disproportionate rates of HIV among people of color, and so is that a program that we're supposed to stop? Even though it's still authorized by Congress and we still have an agreement with the state Health Department that says we have to do this work?" "We're doing the work until somebody tells us we can't." The latest: Several CDC web pages with information regarding HIV/AIDS were scrubbed as of Friday afternoon, though it's not immediately clear what day the pages were removed. Zoom out: Peller says he's worried about the accuracy of the national data now that the CDC's HIV dashboard lists only male and female, but not transgender, under "sex." Excluding that data could mean inaccurate numbers and less funding. What we're watching: Cuts to Medicaid or inability to access those funds would have detrimental effects on the HIV community. Peller says Medicaid is the single largest payer of HIV care in Illinois.
