Harmful cuts risk our state’s elite disease-fighting forces

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Imagine the righteous outrage that would erupt if the U.S. military’s special operations — Navy SEALs, Army Rangers — were not only targeted by Elon Musk’s cost-cutting efforts but expected to bear a disproportionate share of funding reductions. Why would we risk weakening them in an increasingly chaotic world?

That same logic — protecting an exceptionally valuable group of specialists — applies to real-world federal funding cuts hitting closer to home.

The Minnesota Department of Health’s Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Prevention and Control division is the public health equivalent of SEAL Team 6, which took out Osama bin Laden. The department and this division in particular are a “crown jewel” in our public health system, standing out nationally for their ability to detect outbreaks and pinpoint their origins, said Minnesota infectious disease expert Mike Osterholm during an interview last week.

Yet it is this group of irreplaceable experts that will bear the brunt of recent federal funding cuts affecting the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). This reality ought to spur outrage and a search for solutions at the Legislature, from Gov. Tim Walz and among the state’s congressional delegation.

After the Trump administration recently canceled $11 billion in COVID-era federal health grants, MDH announced it would lay off 170 employees whose jobs are partly funded through this aid. Of those, 71 were employed in the infectious disease division, an MDH spokesman told me. Another 31 members of this team received “at risk” notices, suggesting that they may lose their jobs as well.

While the state is not in position to make up for more than $220 million in frozen federal grants, Minnesota’s political leaders must take deliberate steps to undo the harmful consequences that will certainly result from the decimation of a critical scientific team. It’s not an unreasonable ask to prioritize finding a middle ground. The expertise of these public servants keeps Minnesota safe and prosperous.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is commendably leading a coalition of state attorneys general to overturn the cuts. But other strategies are needed besides hoping this lawsuit succeeds.

It was frustrating to watch MDH Commissioner Brooke Cunningham’s appearance before the Minnesota Senate’s Health and Human Services committee last week. Cunningham did not seek anything beyond the $1.3 million in additional state money requested for the department earlier this year before federal cuts were announced.

Nor did legislators ask Cunningham about the cuts’ impact on her department and this valuable division. State Sen. Jim Abeler, R-Anoka, who sits on the committee, deserves credit, however, for sending a fiery letter to President Donald Trump and federal health officials about the speed with which the health funding cuts were inflicted. “Quite frankly, the cancellation of these contracts and promises with literally zero notice is not morally defensible,” he wrote late last month.

The cuts’ impact on the MDH’s world-class professionals begs for its own hearing. There’s still time this session for legislators to explore options to backfill some of the lost federal dollars. The infectious disease team has long been successful in securing federal grants, with this aid long comprising around 90% of its needs. Asking the state to now pony up support, perhaps temporarily, isn’t out of line.

Walz objected to the cuts at a news conference last month. His office provided this statement Friday: “When one in every three dollars we spend comes from the federal government, no state can compensate for the holes that will be left by these sweeping cuts. When billionaires choose to cut programs to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy, these are the consequences.”

That’s a fine public statement from the governor. What’s needed even more is some level of alternative funding and clear leadership from Walz demonstrating that bolstering the MDH is a priority.

Legislators also have a responsibility to examine how job losses at MDH have been handled. An official with the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees described a chaotic scene for me recently: “People have been notified who shouldn’t have. People have not been notified who should have.”

It should also be noted that other state health departments have not moved as quickly as Minnesota to announce layoffs. Federal cuts also hit the Illinois Department of Public Health hard but a spokesman told me last week that it has not announced layoffs. In a news release, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said: “The state of Illinois will do everything in our power to restore this vital federal funding and continue to invest in common sense public health solutions to keep our state safe and healthy.”

An expedited review by the state’s respected Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) of how MDH leadership has handled these cuts is imperative. Legislative Audit Commission Chair Sen. Ann Rest, DFL-New Hope, and Vice Chair Rep. Duane Quam, R-Byron, this requires your immediate attention.