Judge halts RFK Jr.'s health agency restructuring

• "The Executive Branch does not have the authority to order, organize, or implement wholesale changes to the structure and function of the agencies created by Congress," Judge Melissa DuBose, a Biden appointee, wrote in her decision.

The states argued that Kennedy's changes stopped health agencies from carrying out legally required functions, such as food safety inspections and infectious disease prevention.

• Their attorneys general say HHS is violating the Constitution's requirements on separations of power and running afoul of administrative procedure laws.

State of play: Kennedy in March announced that he'd combine HHS's 28 divisions into 15 in a bid to streamline functions and cut costs.

• The plan included placing on administrative leave and eventually firing some 10,000 HHS employees, though some of those employees have been reinstated.

• Fired employees have filed a separate lawsuit arguing that their terminations were based on error-ridden personnel data.

What they're saying: "We stand by our original decision to realign this organization with its core mission and refocus a sprawling bureaucracy that, over time, had become wasteful, inefficient and resistant to change," HHS communications director Andrew Nixon said in an email.

• Nixon said that HHS strongly disagrees with the court ruling and is considering next steps.