Health clinics and state agencies throughout New England have received memos from Washington over the past several days ordering them to shut down federally funded programs related to diversity, equity, and inclusion and gender identity.
On Monday, dozens of community health centers in Massachusetts received a memo from the Health Resources and Services Administration ordering them to comply with executive orders issued last week by President Trump that ban programs related to DEI and “gender ideology.”
“Any vestige, remnant, or re-named piece of any programs in conflict with these E.O.‘s are terminated in whole or in part,” the memo read.
HRSA, a federal agency, supports health care for poorer communities, people who are medically vulnerable, or those who are geographically isolated from health providers. The state’s 37 Federally Qualified Health Centers, most of which received the HRSA memo, rely on federal funding for up to 40 percent of their budgets.
New Hampshire’s Department of Health and Human Services received a similarly worded memo from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ordering an unidentified award recipient to “immediately terminate, to the maximum extent, all programs, personnel, activities, or contracts” that promote DEI. It is not clear if the memo was directed at New Hampshire HHS itself or was shared with the department by another entity. The memo obtained by The Boston Globe, dated Wednesday,, does not make clear what program it targets. As of 2023, New Hampshire received about $70 million in CDC funding, according to federal data.
New Hampshire officials did not reply to a request for comment.
The Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services, when sent copies of the CDC and HRSA memos, confirmed the office had also received similar letters. Caroline Whitehouse, a spokesperson for the office, did not clarify whether the letters HHS received were sent to the state office directly, or through contractors who provide health services. Massachusetts' Department of Public Health relies on federal funding for about $700 million of its $1.7 billion annual budget, DPH officials said, and the vast majority of that federal funding comes through the CDC.
Rhode Island’s Executive Office of Health and Human Services did not respond to an inquiry about whether it, too, had received the memos.
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey said in a Monday night statement, “I’m deeply concerned by President Trump’s efforts to undermine public health.”
Among the examples she cited were Friday’s purge of huge amounts of information from the CDC’s website, including guidance on preventing HIV transmission and child abuse.
“Here in Massachusetts, we are going to stay true to who we are and continue to deliver high-quality health care for all of our residents, including protecting access to care for women and the LGBTQ+ community,” Healey said.
Spokespeople for the federal Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to multiple requests for comment about how many memos were sent out and to whom.
ABC News reported Sunday that a different CDC memo related to gender identity went out to ”any entity that receives CDC funds, such as local health departments and clinics across the country.”
The Massachusetts and New Hampshire memos arrived after court orders temporarily paused the Trump administration’s efforts to kill what are widely seen as progressive policy initiatives through a funding freeze. The first court action came Jan. 28, before any of the memos obtained by the Globe were issued. The second temporary restraining order was issued Friday by Rhode Island-based Judge John McConnell. On Monday, US District Judge Loren AliKhan also issued a temporary restraining order, extending a hold on the freeze.
It’s unclear if the memos from Washington are legal, but at least some Massachusetts entities consider the latest memos to be negated by the temporary restraining orders. In Friday’s opinion, McConnell warned the federal government not to block federal funding “under any other name or title.”
In its response to Globe questions about the memos, Massachusetts HHS cited Friday’s temporary restraining order, which stated federal agencies could not “freeze, impede, block, cancel, or terminate any awards or obligations . . . on the basis of the President’s recently issued Executive Orders.”
Staff with the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers also said Friday’s order makes the memos toothless.
“We have signed grant agreements,” Shade Cronan, a spokesperson for the league, told the Globe. “It’s one thing to put restrictions on money going forward, but this is money that’s been encumbered.”
Democracy Forward, a national legal aid organization that participated in the suit that paused Trump’s federal funding freeze, said it was reviewing possible legal responses, a spokesperson said.
The Massachusetts attorney general’s office, which also participated in the suit challenging Trump’s funding freeze and has offered guidance to local officials amid the wave of federal orders, did not respond to a request for comment.
This story was updated to correct information about the size of the state budget and how much comes from the federal government.
If you’ve been impacted by these changes, please fill out our survey below and a reporter may be in touch. Everything you share is confidential, and nothing will be published without your permission.
Jason Laughlin can be reached at jason.laughlin@globe.com. Follow him @jasmlaughlin. Matt Stout can be reached at matt.stout@globe.com. Follow him @mattpstout.