The New Orleans Health Department has shifted much of its focus to social and economic justice in recent years. Now, many of its programs risk losing federal funding under the Trump administration. (New Orleans Health Department photo)
NEW ORLEANS – Last week’s move by the Trump administration to freeze trillions of dollars of federal grants and loans — pending a top-to-bottom review to identify spending that does not align with the president’s ideological agenda — sent shockwaves through the country.
States reported that they couldn’t access Medicaid funds; nonprofit groups providing services such as crime victim advocacy and grants for scientific research warned that they may have to scale back their work; and colleges and universities cautioned that research and services supported by grants could come to a standstill.
The pause also caused consternation in New Orleans City Hall. The city’s government, like many municipalities, depends heavily on federal funding to operate.
According to the city’s adopted budget for 2025, New Orleans expects to receive more than $400 million in federal funds – more than 20% of total expected revenues for the year.
The funding pause, however, is itself now paused. First, the Office of Management and Budget rescinded the order. Then a judge temporarily blocked the order, following a lawsuit by a group of nonprofits. But city officials worry that even if the pause may be temporarily on hold, federal funding for vital services may still be eventually withdrawn.
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Federal funds that go to the city aren’t concentrated in one department but can be found across various city departments and agencies. Federal money supports the Mosquito Control Board, the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness and the Office of Resilience and Sustainability, among others.
But perhaps no department is at greater risk than the New Orleans Health Department, where more than half of the departmental budget and two-thirds of the staff would be immediately impacted by a full freeze on federal funding.
“No health department has enough funding to make up for a 60% cut in revenue,” New Orleans Health Department spokeswoman Isis Casanova said in an email. “We are discussing with city leaders about options to continue services and staff uninterrupted should a temporary freeze come to pass, but a permanent cut would be devastating to our operations (and those of cities in general).”
That’s no longer an immediate concern. But the federal review still looms, and a significant chunk of the department’s budget goes to the types of so-called “woke” programs that Trump says he wants to eliminate, including those used to provide health care services to homeless people, maternal and infant health and community-based anti-violence work.
‘Real and immediate consequences for public health’
On Monday, the federal Office of Management and Budget, which administers federal funding, announced a temporary pause to seemingly all such funding – an estimated $3 trillion of financial assistance provided across the country and abroad. The dramatic move left countless cities, states and organizations scrambling, as they questioned how the wide-reaching pause would impact them in both the short- and long-term.
The memo called for an across-the-board ideological review of all federally funded programs as part of the concentrated effort by President Donald Trump to attack progressive initiatives.
“The use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve,” wrote Matthew J. Vaeth, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, in the memo.
Over the past several years, NOHD has shifted much of its focus to social and economic justice, following its most recent Community Health Improvement Plan, which addresses the social determinants of health. Under a Trump administration making broad attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion and other allegedly “Marxist” ideas, these justice-focused initiatives could come under fire.
Because of this, the city has long anticipated that it might need to fight to keep its federal funding.
Before Trump took office, New Orleans Health Department officials made a list of all programs they feared could be on the chopping block due to a Republican-controlled Congress paired with a Trump-led White House. They also developed a strategy to address any risks to their funding: planning, first, to proactively discuss the importance of these programs with federal agency staff and members of the congressional delegation and, second, to identify potential alternative sources of funding so they could maintain programming and staffing.
But the threat of a sudden and comprehensive funding pause has forced the department to act quickly to defend its programs.
In a Thursday document listing all the programs at immediate risk, Casanova wrote, “This is More Than A Funding Issue – It’s a Public Health Emergency.”
“The disruption of these programs is not just an administrative challenge — it has real and immediate consequences for public health,” Casanova continued. “Families, children, seniors, and vulnerable populations who rely on these services will be directly impacted.”
According to Casanova, some of the impacted programs include Healthy Start, which supports maternal and infant health, Health Care for the Homeless, which provides primary health care services, and Ubuntu Peace Ambassadors, a community-based violence interruption program. All three of the federal funding streams that back these initiatives are on a list of the more than 2,600 programs currently under OMB’s review, The New York Times reported.
According to data provided by the city, Healthy Start, which seeks to reduce infant mortality, served over 700 families in 2024, providing home visitation, prenatal support, breastfeeding support and car seat education, among other services. Healthy Start has also screened families for mental health and intimate partner violence.
Similarly, NOHD’s violence prevention efforts have been extensive. It also supported the distribution of more than 700 biometric firearm safes through the Children’s Hospital. And the Ubuntu Peace Ambassadors program has responded to over 100 shootings in the city.
“These programs have allowed us to effectively change the landscape within our communities,” Casanova said.
City health officials hope that they can keep funding in place to support these critical services. But at least one community partner says that it will keep up its work – regardless of whatever threats may come.
In an interview conducted before the funding pause commotion last week, Ernest Johnson, director of Ubuntu Village, cautioned against being swept up in the fearmongering caused by the Trump administration.
“Sometimes narrative can get people thinking and have a predictive threat,” Johnson said. “We aren’t going to shift, because of this threat. We may be a little more strategic, but that doesn’t mean we will abandon it because of what may come.”
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This article first appeared on Verite News New Orleans and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.