In response to the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Congress passed the 2.2 trillion dollar CARES Act in March 2020 to support individuals, businesses, and the healthcare system, establishing critical public health infrastructure and funding mechanisms. However, in March 2025, the Trump administration rescinded 11.4 billion dollar in COVID-era funding, including hundreds of millions designated for Illinois. This decision has jeopardized the funding that enabled state and local public health departments to develop and expand vital infectious disease prevention programs, including Chicago’s Regional Innovative Public Health Laboratory (RIPHL), the Rapid Response Team, HIV care, STI prevention research, and public health workforce sustainability. Public health experts, including Dr. Emily Landon and Dr. Moira McNulty from UChicago Medicine, warn that these cuts – driven by the political framing of the pandemic being “over” – undermine infectious disease prevention and control and pose a significant risk to public health. The defunding not only risks reversing recent public health progress, but it also jeopardizes lives by crippling disease surveillance, outbreak response, and equitable healthcare access across Illinois and beyond.