Twenty legal experts initiate a legal action against the Trump administration, aiming to reinstate authority and autonomy within health regulatory bodies.
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In a legal battle led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, 20 attorneys general, including those from California, Colorado, and Michigan, took on the Trump administration, filing a lawsuit on Monday over mass layoffs and the dismantling of agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
The lawsuit alleges that the administration violated hundreds of laws and bypassed congressional authority by consolidating HHS agencies from 28 to 15 and initiating layoffs of approximately 20,000 employees.
At a press conference, James deemed the terminations as "dangerous, cruel, and illegal." She argued that instead of streamlining the federal government, the administration was sabotaging it. James were not merely dismissing scientists researching infectious diseases or silencing doctors caring for pregnant people. She claimed that the cuts also left programs helping firefighters and miners breathe, supporting children's growth, and bolstering low-income families and people with disabilities vulnerable.
In late March, HHS announced the restructuring as part of a broader effort by the Department of Government Efficiency to minimize the federal workforce. The cuts amounted to thousands of employees from key agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and National Institutes of Health (NIH).
HHS plans to create a new agency, the Administration for a Healthy America, to assume some responsibilities previously carried out by terminated agencies. However, the lawsuit contends that the recent cuts have destructive, complex, delayed, and potentially irreversible consequences.
The suit claims that HHS is now unable to perform many of its essential functions due to the loss of mental health and substance use services, the crippling of the nation's HIV/AIDS response, and reduced support for low-income families and people with disabilities. Significant programs affected include mental health and substance abuse services, the nation’s HIV/AIDS response, services for low-income families, and programs for people with disabilities.
A few notable examples of the devastating impact include the termination of staff responsible for maintaining the federal poverty guidelines, the slashing of the team behind the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, and the elimination of half the workforce at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. As a result, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health has been halted, and the federal team running the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is no longer in place.
Moreover, the lawsuit states that HHS lost several labs tracking infectious diseases, an office focused on tobacco control and prevention, and a team that monitored maternal mortality in the United States. The CDC also suffered significant losses, including the destruction of infectious disease research labs, the shuttering of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), an agency that helped screen for health issues in workers with toxic exposures, and the World Trade Center Health Program, which covers screening and treatments for 9/11-related illnesses.
The Trump administration argues that certain programs, like the World Trade Center Health Program and the Coal Workers' Health Surveillance Program, will continue through the Administration for a Healthy America. However, many NIOSH employees involved with these programs have been placed on administrative leave and are facing impending terminations in June, according to an internal government memo obtained by NBC News.
Monday's lawsuit calls on HHS to halt its plans to dismantle agencies and restore vital programs that have been lost. James plans to request a preliminary injunction this week to temporarily block the Trump administration from making additional cuts. Similar challenges against the federal government's downsizing mission have arisen previously, such as a coalition of 23 attorneys general suing HHS in April over the termination of roughly $11 billion in public health grants. The outcome of this lawsuit is yet to be decided.
In essence, the Trump administration’s mass firings and restructuring within HHS have weakened key health programs, federal disease research and prevention capabilities, and endangered public health nationwide. The lawsuit depicts these actions as illegal and dangerously disruptive to federal health infrastructure and services, potentially placing millions of Americans at risk.
- The lawsuit filed by 20 attorneys general, including those from California, Colorado, and Michigan, against the Trump administration, asserts that the administration's consolidation of HHS agencies from 28 to 15 and subsequent layoffs of approximately 20,000 employees, was not only illegal but also dangerous, jeopardizing key health programs and federal disease research.
- The restructuring within HHS, led by the Trump administration, has resulted in the termination of staff responsible for maintaining the federal poverty guidelines, the slashing of the team behind the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, and the elimination of half the workforce at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
- The lawsuit further claims that HHS's current state, as a result of the cuts, is unable to perform many of its essential functions, such as providing mental health and substance abuse services, supporting the nation’s HIV/AIDS response, and bolstering services for low-income families and people with disabilities.
- The Trump administration's restructuring has also resulted in the loss of several labs tracking infectious diseases, an office focused on tobacco control and prevention, and a team that monitored maternal mortality in the United States.
- The lawsuit seeks to halt the Trump administration's plans to dismantle agencies and restore vital programs that have been lost, such as the World Trade Center Health Program, which covers screening and treatments for 9/11-related illnesses, and the CDC's infectious disease research labs.
