19 states sue RFK Jr. over HHS restructuring
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Kennedy speaking during a Cabinet meeting at the White House. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Nineteen Democratic-led states plus the District of Columbia sued Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday, saying his ongoing reorganization of the federal health bureaucracy incapacitated core functions and deprived the states of federal funds and expertise.
The big picture: The lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island alleges that Kennedy's structural changes stopped health agencies from carrying out legally required functions, including health hazard evaluations at workplaces, food safety inspections and infectious disease prevention.
- The attorneys general say HHS is violating the Constitution's requirements on separations of power and running afoul of administrative procedure laws.
- "Dismantling HHS by terminating the people necessary for it to meet its own mandates, and paralyzing it by means of a confusing reorganization, is an unlawful effort to undercut the will of Congress who ordered the agencies and programs to run," the complaint reads.
The complaint was filed by New York, Washington, Rhode Island, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai'i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Wisconsin, Vermont and the District of Columbia.
Context: Kennedy in late March announced that he'd consolidate 28 HHS divisions into 15 offices, including a new office called the Administration for a Healthy America. He said the move would streamline functions and cut costs.
- The plan required placing on administrative leave and eventually firing 10,000 HHS employees, on top of about 10,000 who voluntarily left the agency since the start of the year.
- Some employees placed on leave have been asked back to work.
The complaint asks a judge to stop HHS from implementing Kennedy's restructuring plan.
- HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Zoom out: Twenty-three states in April separately sued HHS for clawing back more than $11 billion in public health grants to state and local health departments without warning.
- A federal judge in Rhode Island has temporarily blocked the grant moves while litigation continues.
