Attorney General Dan Rayfield has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. The action, joined by attorneys general from 23 states and the District of Columbia, seeks to challenge the sudden termination of nearly $12 billion in public health grants.
“This reckless termination of billions of dollars in grants is not just an attack on the states, it’s an assault on the well-being of every American,” Rayfield emphasized. According to Rayfield, the termination threatens states' ability to address urgent public health needs, including infectious disease management, emergency preparedness, and mental health services.
The lawsuit underscores the importance of these grants, which were authorized and appropriated by Congress through COVID-19-related legislation. The grants supported critical areas such as mental health and substance abuse services. Yet, Secretary Kennedy’s HHS agencies ended the grants on March 24, citing the end of the pandemic as justification and claimed that the grants were no longer necessary. The coalition argues that the pandemic's conclusion does not legally justify the abrupt grant cuts.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island. It contends that the terminations violate federal law because the grants' funds were not contingent on the pandemic's end, which was declared over more than a year ago.
The coalition of attorneys general seeks a temporary restraining order to invalidate the grant terminations, asserting they violate the Administrative Procedure Act. They aim to stop HHS from maintaining or reinstating these cuts and implementing related agency actions.
Joining Attorney General Rayfield in this lawsuit are counterparts from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin, and the Governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania.