A coalition of attorneys general in 19 states and the District of Columbia is suing the Trump administration over its “unconstitutional dismantling” of the Department of Health and Human Services.
The lawsuit seeks to stop the “restructuring” overseen by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., arguing the effort has gutted the agency and destroyed life-saving programs, causing significant harm for the plaintiff states.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Washington D.C. on Monday, New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) said.
“This administration is not streamlining the federal government; they are sabotaging it and all of us,” James said in a statement. “When you fire the scientists who research infectious diseases, silence the doctors who care for pregnant patients, and shut down the programs that help firefighters and miners breathe or children thrive, you are not making America healthy – you are putting countless lives at risk.”
Attorneys general from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia all signed onto the complaint.
The layoffs began April 1 as part of a restructuring effort announced just days before. HHS eliminated 10,000 employees, collapsed 28 agencies into 15 and closed half of HHS’s ten regional offices.
The plan affected every type of HHS worker across all divisions of the agency. But the lawsuit notes the layoffs primarily targeted “disfavored work and programs” at certain agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
“In its first three months, Secretary Kennedy and this administration deprived HHS of the resources necessary to do its job,” the attorneys general wrote. “The terminations and reorganizations happened quickly, but the consequences are severe, complicated, and potentially irreversible.”
For instance, the layoffs caused the FDA to miss a vaccine application deadline and cancel a critical test for the bird flu virus, causing the testing program to be suspended for the rest of 2025, according to the lawsuit
HHS officials have insisted that the agency’s massive staffing cuts have been performed carefully.
But the lawsuit noted that “to date, the Department has stonewalled all efforts to learn which positions were terminated and who received a RIF [reduction in force] notice.”
Kennedy was asked to testify about the restructuring in the Senate Health Committee on April 10, but instead won’t appear until May 14, ostensibly to talk about the White House budget request — which proposes even steeper agency cuts. Kennedy will likely face heated questions on the details of the layoffs.
The attorneys general argue the chaos and devastation are not just collateral damage, but the administration’s intended result. They allege the Trump administration has violated hundreds of laws, bypassed congressional authority and “trampled the constitutional separation of powers.”
They want a judge to vacate the directive and to require the restoration of critical health programs.
