Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Trump administration and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., alleging the federal government unlawfully rescinded $12 billion in public health funding. The suit, led by Washington Attorney General Nick Brown, seeks a temporary restraining order to block the Department of Health and Human Services from proceeding with the cuts, which plaintiffs claim will devastate essential health services.
The lawsuit follows HHS's announcement that it would reclaim approximately $11.4 billion in funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and another $1 billion from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The decision comes as the Trump administration, under its second term, pushes to eliminate programs it deems wasteful and redirect spending toward chronic disease initiatives.
"The COVID-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago," the department stated last week. "HHS is prioritizing funding projects that will deliver on President Trump's mandate to address our chronic disease epidemic and Make America Healthy Again."
But plaintiffs argue the funds were never intended solely for pandemic response. "Slashing this funding now will reverse our progress on the opioid crisis, throw our mental health systems into chaos, and leave hospitals struggling to care for patients," New York Attorney General Letitia James said. Her state alone could lose over $400 million.
The lawsuit contends the administration lacks the legal authority to revoke funds already appropriated by Congress and allocated to states. It alleges a violation of the Constitution's separation of powers, warning that the executive branch is overriding legislative intent.
"This funding was appropriated by Congress and obligated to health departments with work plans, budgets, and timelines approved by federal agencies," said Dr. Joseph Kanter, CEO of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. "We worry the abrupt loss of these activities will impair states and territories in their ability to respond to current and future threats."
The contested funds were used to modernize public health infrastructure, improve testing for diseases such as measles and H5N1 bird flu, enhance biosecurity readiness, and maintain addiction treatment and suicide prevention programs. According to Kanter, the withdrawals jeopardize these core functions.
The lawsuit also highlights the broader political and legal implications of the funding rollback. Daniel Karon, a legal scholar who teaches consumer law at the University of Michigan and The Ohio State University, warned of a brewing constitutional clash. "When Congress says, 'Spend on this,' the legislative branch has spoken. If the executive branch refuses, and the judiciary sides with Congress, yet the administration still ignores it, you've got a constitutional crisis," he said.
The administration has remained defiant. HHS has declined to comment on the pending litigation. However, it has maintained that the funding is no longer justified given the pandemic's official end and that the resources would be better allocated elsewhere.
Washington, which stands to lose over $159 million, is joined in the lawsuit by attorneys general from California, Colorado, Minnesota, Rhode Island, and 19 other states, as well as the governors of Pennsylvania and Kentucky. The plaintiffs argue that Congress specifically chose not to rescind this tranche of funding when it reviewed and retracted $27 billion from COVID-related appropriations after the public health emergency ended.
Adding to the unrest, HHS recently announced 10,000 additional layoffs across the department as part of Secretary Kennedy's restructuring push. The agency has shrunk from 82,000 to roughly 62,000 employees, amid criticism from former health officials and lawmakers. The department also lost FDA vaccine chief Dr. Peter Marks, who resigned last weekend, accusing Kennedy of promoting "misinformation and lies" about vaccine safety.
