By REBECCA BOONE and AMANDA SEITZ – Associated Press (Boone reported from Boise, Idaho and Seitz reported from Washington, D.C.)
Attorneys general in 19 states and Washington, D.C., are challenging cuts to the U.S. Health and Human Services agency, saying the Trump administration’s massive restructuring has destroyed life-saving programs and left states to pick up the bill for mounting health crises.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Washington D.C. on Monday, New York Attorney General Letitia James said. The attorneys general from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia signed onto the complaint.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. restructured the agency in March, eliminating more than 10,000 employees and collapsing 28 agencies under the sprawling HHS umbrella into 15, the attorneys general said. An additional 10,000 employees had already been let go by President Donald Trump’s administration, according to the lawsuit, and combined the cuts stripped 25% of the HHS workforce.
“In its first three months, Secretary Kennedy and this administration deprived HHS of the resources necessary to do its job,” the attorneys general wrote.
Kennedy has said he is seeking to streamline the nation’s public health agencies and reduce redundancies across them with the layoffs. The cuts were made as part of a directive the administration has dubbed, “ Make America Healthy Again.”
HHS is one of the government’s costliest federal agencies, with an annual budget of about $1.7 trillion that is mostly spent on health care coverage for millions of people enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid.
The cuts have resulted in laboratories having limited testing for some infectious diseases, the federal government not tracking cancer risks among U.S. firefighters, early childhood learning programs left unsure of future funds and programs aimed at monitoring cancer and maternal health closing, the attorneys general say. Cuts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also have hampered states’ ability to respond to one of the largest measles outbreaks in recent years, the lawsuit says.
“This chaos and abandonment of the Department’s core functions was not an unintended side effect, but rather the intended result,” of the “MAHA Directive,” they said. They want a judge to vacate the directive because they say the administration can’t unilaterally eliminate programs and funding that have been created by Congress.
The restructuring eliminated the entire team of people who maintain the federal poverty guidelines used by states to determine whether residents are eligible for Medicaid, nutrition assistance and other programs. A tobacco prevention agency was gutted. Staff losses also were significant at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
The Trump administration is already facing other legal challenges over cuts to public health agencies and research organizations. A coalition of 23 states filed a federal lawsuit in Rhode Island last month over the administration’s decision to cut $11 billion in federal funds for COVID-19 initiatives and various public health projects across the country.
Governor Tony Evers statement on the lawsuit and why Wisconsin joined it
MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers today announced a new lawsuit Wisconsin is joining against the Trump Administration and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for reckless, devastating cuts that will effectively dismantle the federal agency that is responsible for helping keep Wisconsinites and Americans healthy and safe.
The new filing slams the Trump Administration for HHS cuts and guts to investments and programs the U.S. Congress already approved, despite having no authority or power to do so. The moves represent yet another direct assault by President Donald J. Trump, Elon Musk, and the Trump Administration on constitutional checks and balances as they continue attempts to unilaterally cut, gut, and dismantle investments and programs approved by the U.S. Congress in order to help Republicans pay for tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires.
“President Trump, Elon Musk, and the Trump Administration are recklessly trying to cut and gut critical funding and programs that are designed to keep Wisconsin’s kids, families, and seniors healthy and safe, help us respond to health threats like lead and bird flu, support folks who are working to overcome addiction and mental health challenges, and so much more. These devastating decisions will jeopardize the health and safety of Wisconsinites and our communities, all so Republicans can help pay for tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires. It’s breathtaking,” said Gov. Evers. “This is just another attempt by the Trump Administration to try and undermine the constitutional checks and balances in our system that help ensure no one has the sole power to make decisions like this unchecked. I will continue to use every tool and power I have to stop the Trump Administration’s disastrous actions that are hurting Wisconsinites and folks across our country every day while fighting against efforts by President Trump and Elon Musk to give themselves sole power over our government.”
Among the impacts of the Trump Administration’s reckless cuts that are part of broader efforts by Musk and “DOGE,” and which are the subject of the lawsuit Gov. Evers announced today, include:
- Canceling a critical test for the bird flu virus, suspending that program for the year, and terminating top veterinarians overseeing the bird flu response, undermining nationwide efforts to respond to the emerging health threat;
- Effectively eliminating the Head Start program with no “clear plan for how the administration intends on supporting Head Start,” forcing Head Start centers to temporarily close, experience delays in making payroll, and causing many Head Start programs to be at imminent risk of pausing or ceasing operations altogether;
- Terminating the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which helps offset high utility bills for millions of people and helps Wisconsinites and Americans heat and cool their homes to stay safe, especially during cold winter and hot summer months;
- Closing Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration offices designed to help support Wisconsinites and Americans working to overcome substance misuse and mental and behavioral health challenges, including the 988 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline program; and
- Laying off and terminating approximately a quarter—about 20,000 HHS employees—whose responsibilities included but were not limited to vaccine researchers, grant administration, responding to lead exposure incidents, answering public information requests to ensure government accountability and transparency, and specialists who help provide care and assistance to senior and aging and older adults, among others.
A copy of the lawsuit filing is available here.
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