California, other states sue to block Trump administration cuts to health department

California and a conjugation of different states sued the Trump medication Monday to artifact sweeping cuts to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, arguing they are unconstitutional and endanger Americans.

The suit specifically challenges section Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s March 27 directive firing 10,000 full-time HHS employees, consolidating 28 section divisions into 15 and shuttering 5 of 10 determination offices, including 1 successful San Francisco. The moves person upended an array of captious services, the states argue, including by shuttering laboratories monitoring the nation’s existent measles outbreak.

The suit — brought by California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and the attorneys wide of 18 different states and the District of Columbia — argues the cuts are “arbitrary and capricious” and unconstitutional, violating the Administrative Procedure Act and going “beyond the scope of statesmanlike power” by usurping the authorization of Congress to due backing toward definite authorities services, Bonta’s bureau said.

“The Trump Administration does not person the powerfulness to incapacitate a section that Congress created, nor tin it diminution to walk funds that were appropriated by Congress for that department,” Bonta said successful a statement. “That’s wherefore my chap attorneys wide and I are taking the Trump Administration to tribunal — HHS is nether attack, and we won’t basal for it.”

The suit asks the courts to state the cuts illegal, artifact oregon reverse their implementation and undo the firings, Bonta’s bureau said.

Health and Human Services characterized the changes arsenic a “dramatic restructuring” of the bureau successful enactment with an enforcement bid by President Trump successful February that tasked advisor Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency with “eliminating waste, bloat, and insularity” successful the national workforce, including done wide firings.

The section said the overhaul besides would assistance it absorption connected Kennedy’s priorities of “ending America’s epidemic of chronic unwellness by focusing connected safe, wholesome food, cleanable water, and the elimination of biology toxins.”

“We aren’t conscionable reducing bureaucratic sprawl. We are realigning the enactment with its halfway ngo and our caller priorities successful reversing the chronic illness epidemic,” Kennedy said successful a statement. “This Department volition bash much — a batch much — astatine a little outgo to the taxpayer.”

Kennedy said that “bureaucracies similar HHS go wasteful and inefficient” implicit time, “even erstwhile astir of their unit are dedicated and competent civilian servants,” and that the overhaul would “be a win-win for taxpayers and for those that HHS serves.”

“That’s the full American public, due to the fact that our extremity is to Make America Healthy Again,” helium said, repeating a slogan the Trump run took up aft Kennedy suspended his ain statesmanlike bid to backmost Trump successful August.

Kennedy was confirmed by the Senate arsenic Health and Human Services caput successful February amid crisp disapproval from Democrats, who lambasted the eccentric scion of the politically storied Kennedy household arsenic an anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist who for years has dispersed dangerous, unscientific beliefs astir a big of wellness issues and viruses, from HIV to COVID-19.

Kennedy has continued to origin alarm since, including done his handling of the nation’s measles outbreak, which successful caller months has swept done ample parts of the Southwest wherever vaccination rates person lagged.

Rather than propulsion for greater vaccination, which has proved highly effectual and safe, Kennedy has directed his section to look for caller attraction options. Scientists person derided the determination arsenic a foolish and apt ineffective diversion of resources successful the look of a superior and deadly menace — and 1 that is unnecessary, fixed the effectiveness of the existing measles vaccine.

In their lawsuit, the states notation to Kennedy’s “history of spinning conspiracy theories” and advocating for the dismantling of Health and Human Services, Bonta’s bureau said. Already, his directive downsizing the bureau is causing harm, crippling enactment for programs specified arsenic Head Start, ending accumulation of N95 masks and shuttering laboratories that show infectious diseases specified arsenic measles, Bonta’s bureau said.

The Associated Press has reported that HHS cuts nether Kennedy look to person eliminated much than a twelve data-gathering programs that way deaths and diseases crossed the nation.

Congress provided Health and Human Services with a fund of $1.8 trillion successful 2024, and has passed assorted laws that outline its mission, Bonta’s bureau said.

Including departures from an earlier buyout, the section has mislaid astir 20,000 of its 82,000 employees since the commencement of the Trump administration, Bonta’s bureau said.

The states reason successful their suit that Health and Human Services fell into disarray aft termination notices went retired April 1, thousands of employees were “immediately expelled from their enactment email, laptops, and offices,” and enactment crossed the section “came to a abrupt halt.”

“Throughout HHS, captious offices were near incapable to execute statutory functions. There was nary 1 to reply the phone, factories went into shutdown mode, experiments were abandoned, trainings were cancelled, tract visits were postponed, exertion portals were closed, laboratories stopped investigating for infectious diseases specified arsenic hepatitis, and partnerships were instantly suspended.”

Joining Bonta successful the suit are the attorneys wide of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.

The suit is the 17th filed by Bonta’s bureau against the Trump administration. It has separately sued the Trump administration implicit Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans to chopped billions of dollars successful national nationalist wellness grants aimed astatine expanding authorities resilience to infectious disease, based connected akin arguments astir the medication overreaching its authorization to contradict decisions by Congress connected national spending.

California leaders besides person raised concerns astir the planned closure of the Health and Human Services bureau successful San Francisco. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) said the determination was “shortsighted” and would person “detrimental impacts to our nationalist wellness effect capabilities,” and that she was “examining each imaginable avenues to combat back” against the cuts.