District of Columbia and New York Attorneys General Brian Schwalb and Letitia James are among a coalition of at least 20 attorneys general filing a federal lawsuit to stop the Trump administration’s sweeping dismantling of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
The suit charges that the administration, under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has illegally gutted the federal health agency — firing tens of thousands of workers, shutting down critical programs, and threatening the health and safety of millions.
The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, seeks to halt the so-called “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) directive, which the attorneys general argue violates the Administrative Procedure Act, the Appropriations Clause, and the constitutional separation of powers.
“This administration is not streamlining the federal government, they are sabotaging it and all of us,” James said. “When you fire the scientists who research infectious diseases, silence the doctors who care for pregnant patients, and shut down the programs that help firefighters and miners breathe, or children thrive, you are not making America healthy – you are putting countless lives at risk.”
On March 27, Kennedy announced the MAHA directive under the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative. In a single move, 28 HHS divisions collapsed into 15, more than 10,000 workers were terminated overnight, and half of HHS’s 10 regional offices were shut down. By April 1, thousands of federal health employees had been locked out of their computers, emails, and office buildings — many learning of their termination only after their badges failed to work.
Programs for low-income families and children, including Head Start, have stalled as regional offices closed and grant funding was frozen. Staff responsible for determining food and housing assistance eligibility, Medicaid, and TANF were fired. The team that runs the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) was also eliminated, leaving millions at risk amid rising energy costs.
The firings crippled mental health and substance use programs. Half the workforce at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) was dismissed, its regional offices closed, and the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline team drastically reduced. HIV/AIDS programs were cut, and tobacco enforcement has all but ended with the elimination of federal oversight.
Entire maternal health teams at the CDC were fired, ending efforts to track and combat maternal mortality. The only federal lab that certifies N95 masks has shut down. Infectious disease surveillance has been severely weakened after key labs monitoring illnesses like measles were closed. The World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program, which serves more than 137,000 9/11 survivors and first responders, faces the loss of key personnel needed to certify cancer diagnoses.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the administration’s actions are beyond the scope of presidential power.
“The Trump administration does not have the power to incapacitate a department that Congress created, nor can it decline to spend funds that were appropriated by Congress for that department,” Bonta stated. “That’s why my fellow attorneys general and I are taking the Trump administration to court — HHS is under attack, and we won’t stand for it.”
Kennedy reportedly admitted he rejected a more deliberate review process for the terminations, saying it could slow “political momentum.”
“The disastrous cuts to the WTC Health Program are placing in peril the lives of every first responder and survivor that relies on this health care program to stay alive,” said Gary Smiley, a 9/11 first responder and union official.
