A coalition of state attorneys general sued the Trump administration on Tuesday over its decision to cut $11 billion in federal funds that go toward Covid-19 initiatives and various public health projects across the country.
Attorneys general from 23 states filed the suit in federal court in Rhode Island. They include New York Attorney General Letitia James, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as well as attorneys general in California, Minnesota, North Carolina, Wisconsin and New York, as well as the District of Columbia.
The lawsuit argues the cuts are illegal and will result in “serious harm to public health” that will put states “at greater risk for future pandemics and the spread of otherwise preventable disease and cutting off vital public health services.”
The lawsuit asks the court to immediately stop the Trump administration from rescinding the money, which was allocated by Congress during the pandemic and mostly used for COVID-related efforts such as testing and vaccination. The money also went to addiction and mental health programs.
“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,” James said Tuesday in a news release.
The U.S. Health and Human Services Department, which began serving employees dismissal notices on Tuesday in what’s expected to total 10,000 layoffs, said it does not comment on ongoing litigation.
HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon pointed to the agency’s statement from last week, when the decision to claw back the money was announced. The HHS said then that it “will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago.”
Already, more than two dozen COVID-related research grants funded by the National Institutes of Health have been cancelled.
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data from March shows that the virus killed 411 people each week on average, even though the federal public health emergency has ended.
Local and state public health departments are still assessing the impact of the loss of funds.
— Devna Bose and Lindsey Whitehurst