Fourteen grants to the Arkansas health and human services departments have been listed for termination, potentially saving the federal government over $165 million, according to an update to the Department of Government Efficiency’s website.
The Arkansas grant terminations were listed Sunday on the “Wall of Receipts” website, along with terminations nationwide of grants from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The DOGE website didn’t explain what the grants were for, listing “No description available” on each of the website entries.
The list of terminations includes 11 grants to the Arkansas Department of Health totalling $158 million.
“The referenced funding was supplemental funding in immunizations, health disparities, and epidemiology and laboratory capacity funding,” said Meg Mirivel, a spokesperson for the Arkansas Department of Health. “We always understood these were temporary grants. The ADH is adjusting accordingly and is well equipped to serve Arkansans.”
The Arkansas health department received $367 million in federal funding in fiscal 2022, the most recent year for which numbers were available late Tuesday. The department received $534 million that year from all sources, including $58 million in general revenue.
When asked if the grants had been terminated already and whether any layoffs would occur as a result, Mirivel said she was working to get answers but probably wouldn’t be able to do so late Tuesday.
The list also included three grants to the Arkansas Department of Human Services totalling $7.6 million.
“The Arkansas Department of Human Services has received notice that federal funds that supported temporary COVID activities through the American Rescue Plan Act have been or may be canceled effective March 24, 2025,” said Gavin Lesnick, a spokesman for the Arkansas department. “We have confirmed that the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant has been canceled. We are seeking clarification from our federal partners as to other impacted (Arkansas Rescue Plan) grants and remain committed to serving Arkansans through the resources we have available.”
The update on Sunday also listed the termination of a $5 million U.S. Department of Defense grant to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
Carrie Phillips, a spokesperson for the university, said the grant was awarded in 2023 and was for “Developing socio-computational capabilities to evaluate emerging social cyber threats,” citing a document pertaining to the grant.
The grant had an unspent balance of $2.8 million — $1.6 million of which was for a “sub-awardee,” Cambridge Semantics Inc., said Phillips. The grant’s scheduled end date was Feb. 28, 2026.
More information about that grant award can be found on this website.
NBC News reported on Tuesday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is pulling back $11.4 billion in funds allocated in response to the pandemic to state and community health departments, non-government organizations and international recipients.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services oversees the center, as well as a dozen other agencies.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago,” said Andrew Nixon, a spokesman for the department, in a statement to the television network. “HHS is prioritizing funding projects that will deliver on President Trump’s mandate to address our chronic disease epidemic and Make America Healthy Again.”
Notices began going out Monday, and awardees have 30 days to reconcile their expenditures, according to NBC.
