RFK Jr.'s HHS Faces Multi-State Suit for Federal Health Cuts (1)

The US Department of Health and Human Services is facing a lawsuit from 20 attorneys general for firing health workers and cutting programs.

New York, Michigan, Arizona, and others argue the Trump administration has “systematically deprived HHS of the resources necessary to do its job.”

In a Monday lawsuit filed in the US District Court for the District of Rhode Island, states and the District of Columbia are pushing for an injunction to “prevent the unconstitutional and illegal dismantling” of the HHS, which they claim is already wreaking havoc on the health landscape.

The lawsuit comes amid a massive restructuring of the HHS under the Trump administration.

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in March announced the reduction of the number of agencies operating under the HHS, while cutting the number of agency employees by about 10,000.

“The federal government has cut lab capacity so much that they have all but stopped testing for measles,” said Letitia James, attorney general of New York, said in a Monday press event.

James also noted that New York’s Wadsworth Center, which she said was “one of the only labs in the country still equipped to detect rare infectious diseases,” was “scrambling to fill the void left by a hollowed-out” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

She also said the World Trade Center Health Program, which provides medical help for 9/11 survivors and responders, “is on track to lose the doctors needed to certify new cancer diagnosis.”

The HHS declined to comment on the lawsuit.

The lawsuit targets Kennedy over views on the HHS that allegedly far-predate his tenure as secretary, including criticisms of the CDC’s vaccine policies and his backing an organization that financed a video alleging the Covid-19 pandemic “was planned as part of a global conspiracy involving HHS.”

Among other allegations, the states say the cuts violate the Constitution’s separation of powers doctrine as the Trump administration “cannot incapacitate” the HHS without Congress’ signoff.

The states also claim the administration is violating the appropriations clause because Congress already authorized funds for agency operations.

The case is New York v. Kennedy, D.R.I., No. 1:25-cv-00196, 5/5/25