Democratic attorneys general across 19 states and Washington, DC, have filed a lawsuit against the US Department of Health and Human Services, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other federal health officials, alleging that the agency’s restructuring endangers the American public after several public health programs were dismantled and thousands of federal health workers fired in the process.
The states are seeking “declaratory and injunctive relief” to prevent the “unconstitutional and illegal dismantling” of the department, according to the lawsuit filed Monday and led by New York State Attorney General Letitia James.
“This administration has taken a wrecking ball to the Department of Health and Human Services. HHS is responsible for protecting and preserving public health. And since taking office, this administration has fired scientists, closed labs, shuttered lifesaving programs, without rhyme, reason or any legal authority,” James said in a news conference Monday.
“This is not government reform. This is not efficiency. The federal government has cut lab capacity so much that they have all but stopped testing for measles in the middle of an unprecedented measles outbreak,” James said.
“These actions are dangerous, cruel and illegal,” she said. “We are asking the court to halt the unlawful dismantling of HHS, to stop the mass firings and to restore the lifesaving programs that millions of Americans depend on.”
An HHS spokesperson said in a statement Monday, “We are following the law, period. Nothing has been rushed and multiple rounds of discussions between divisions and HHS occurred before the announcement. Every step taken has been deliberate, collaborative, and consistent with federal personnel policy and civil service protections. To suggest otherwise is inaccurate and misrepresents the integrity and facts of the process.
“The reforms are designed to strengthen the agency’s capacity to serve the American public, not weaken it,” the spokesperson said. “HHS remains confident that the process will withstand legal scrutiny and looks forward to a resolution that reflects the facts and the law.”
In late March, the Trump administration announced plans to cut some discretionary federal health spending and transform several health agencies. These restructuring plans include consolidating the 28 agencies of HHS into 15 new divisions, including the Administration for a Healthy America.
“This Department will do more – a lot more – at a lower cost to the taxpayer,” Kennedy said in a news release when the restructuring was announced.
“We aren’t just reducing bureaucratic sprawl. We are realigning the organization with its core mission and our new priorities in reversing the chronic disease epidemic,” he said. “This overhaul will be a win-win for taxpayers and for those that HHS serves.”
The new lawsuit alleges that the impacts of this restructuring already have been harmful, leading to the shutdown of some regional HHS offices that provide services to low-income families, children with disabilities, youth experiencing homelessness and preschool development programs. The suit alleges effects on Head Start programs, which provide early childhood education and other services to young children.
“Last month, the federal government suddenly closed five regional Head Start offices, including the one that serves New York,” Susan Stamler, executive director of United Neighborhood Houses, an organization that represents neighborhood settlement houses in New York, said in a news release Monday.
“Providers were left scrambling, unable to contact anyone, and worried for the families who rely on them. Recertification applications are unresolved, and uncertainty about payments and the future of Head Start have caused a sense of panic among child care providers,” she said. “The shrinking of HHS is clearly having devastating impacts on our neighborhoods and families. Jeopardizing child care is no way to help working parents.”
Other impacts include cuts to an “entire team working on assisted reproductive technology” under the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Reproductive Health, according to the lawsuit, as well as the shutdown of “a laboratory that analyzed and tracked complex sexually transmitted infections” and the elimination of the Division of Viral Hepatitis’ laboratory branch at the CDC.
The attorneys general filing this lawsuit represent the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.
It’s the latest in a wave of litigation against the White House. More than 100 lawsuits have been filed over the Trump administration’s executive actions in the first months of Trump’s second presidency.
In April, some of those same attorneys general were part of a group including 23 states and Washington, DC, who filed a lawsuit against HHS and Kennedy, alleging that the department’s sudden rollback of $12 billion in public health funding was unlawful and harmful. The states sought a temporary restraining order and injunctive relief to immediately halt the administration’s funding cuts.