States Seek to Block Mass Restructuring, Lay-Off Plan for HHS

Nineteen states and the District of Columbia are asking a federal trial court to block Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other federal officials from implementing mass terminations and restructuring at the US Department of Health and Human Services.

The actions, planned to take effect on June 2, were announced as part of Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” program, and will result in severe harms to the states’ health programs, the group said in a motion for a preliminary injunction filed in the US District Court for the District of Rhode Island May 9. The plan is unlawful and will deprive the states of resources they need to fight infectious diseases, reduce smoking-related deaths, and ensure families can access programs like Head Start, they said.

This is one of multiple lawsuits challenging the Trump administration’s attempt to reduce the size of the federal government. HHS is already facing suits for cutting funds to health-care providers that perform or study gender-affirming care, research institutions and universities, and public health-care programs such as those that provide assistance with family planning and teen pregnancy prevention.

Led by New York, the states said they’re likely to prevail on claims that the challenged actions violate the Administrative Procedure Act because they’re arbitrary, capricious, and unsupported by the evidence. The defendants didn’t engage in rational, reasoned decision making in issuing the March 27 directive, which will result in the loss of about 10,000 jobs, the states said.

According to the brief, Kennedy admitted that the agency didn’t carefully review employees’ job responsibilities and that up to 20% of the terminations could be mistaken, the states said. Federal officials didn’t take the time to review the cuts on a case-by-case basis or consider how the reduction in force would “cause immediate and significant disruption to agency operations,” they said.

There’s no support for the agency’s sweeping statements that the restructuring will make it more efficient or save taxpayers about $1.8 billion, the states added.

The directive makes it impossible for the agency to comply with its numerous statutory obligations, violates the appropriations and impoundment control acts, and the constitutional separation of powers doctrine, the states also said.

The filing targets terminations and closures at four subagencies—the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Center for Tobacco Products, the Office of Head Start, and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. The plaintiffs in the May 5 complaint include Washington, Rhode Island, California, and Colorado.

New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) is lead counsel for the states. The US Department of Justice represents the federal defendants.

The case is New York v. Kennedy, D.R.I., No. 25-cv-196, motion 5/9/25.