In a significant pushback against the Trump administration's recent health policy decisions, Attorney General Nick Brown has joined forces with counterparts from 18 different states to file a lawsuit aimed at halting the systemic dismantling of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). According to details laid out in a statement released by the Attorney General's office, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., along with other administration officials, has been accused of enacting a series of actions that have significantly stripped HHS of resources. These resources are deemed essential for the department to effectively aid the American public.
The lawsuit, as detailed in a press release, points to several impacted areas within the health system. Among them are miners with black lung disease, now more vulnerable due to discontinued surveillance programs, and workers who, after the nation’s only federal mask approval laboratory was closed, can't find reliable access to N95 masks. The repercussions of these actions, taken by Secretary Kennedy under the Trump administration, are being described as both "plainly illegal and a moral failing."
Brown's condemnation of these measures comes with dire warnings. "These actions are both plainly illegal and a moral failing. More Americans will suffer from illness, injury, and death without these commonsense programs," he stated in the press release. Alongside the critical issues faced by miners and workers, the closure of pivotal CDC infectious disease laboratories, job losses at SAMHSA, negligence toward maternal health and early childhood programs, and adverse effects on the WTCHP, which affects 9/11 first responders, were also highlighted as significant dangers resulting from the administration's decisions.
Further exacerbating the situation, those crowning acts of administrative overhaul seem to disregard the very structure of American governance, with the lawsuit claiming the Trump administration has flouted the separation of powers and overturned laws and budgets enacted by Congress to sustain public health. Coalitions are now urging the courts to not only stop the mass firings but also demand a reversal of the reorganization, and a restoration of the health services millions of Americans rely upon.
In response to earlier cuts to state health funding, Brown joined a group of 23 attorneys general in a separate lawsuit against Secretary Kennedy and the administration. A federal judge has since issued a temporary restraining order against the administration, reinstating the funding for the time being. The current lawsuit, led by Brown, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha, includes representatives from Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and Wisconsin, all united in their pursuit to protect public health infrastructure.
