According to CNN, Democratic attorneys general and governors in 23 US states as well as the capital Washington DC said that the Trump administration’s sudden cut of more than $12 billion in public health budget is “illegal and harmful”.
The lawsuit, filed on April 1, targets the US Department of Health and Human Services and Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
With this lawsuit, the states are seeking an immediate and temporary restraining order to stop the budget cuts, which they say will disrupt vital public health services and put many health care workers out of work.
The office of the US Department of Health and Human Services, which is implementing massive budget and staff cuts under US President Donald Trump’s plan – Photo: INDIANZ
Last week, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) withdrew about $11.4 billion in funding allocated to state and community health departments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The CDC expects to begin collecting the money in about 30 days, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services.
Another $1 billion from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration was also cut, according to the attorneys general who sued.
The US Department of Health and Human Services argues that the COVID-19 pandemic is over and that it will not waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a “non-existent pandemic” that Americans overcame years ago.
The department also said it was prioritizing funding for projects targeted by Donald Trump, including tackling chronic disease and “making America healthy again.”
Meanwhile, the coalition of states filed the lawsuit, arguing that while these funds were allocated during the pandemic, they were never specifically intended to respond to COVID-19.
Instead, much of the money is being allocated to long-term public health funding, as well as pandemic preparedness and some behavioral health services, including addiction treatment and suicide prevention.
CDC, FDA staff fired en masse
According to multiple US media sources, the Donald Trump administration has begun mass layoffs of 10,000 employees at US health agencies since April 1. Security guards prevented these people from entering the agency just hours after the sudden layoff announcement.
The cuts target multiple agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services, including the CDC, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the National Institutes of Health.
The plan is part of a larger plan by the US president and his ally – billionaire Elon Musk – to shrink the federal government and cut spending.
Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the cuts, combined with other recent layoffs, will reduce the department’s total workforce from 82,000 to 62,000, and are necessary to streamline a “bloated bureaucracy.”
But it also means removing many of the top scientists who oversee public health, cancer research, and approve vaccines and drugs, raising concerns about a lack of capacity to respond in an emergency.
In the United States, measles and bird flu are on the rise.
“Our condolences to those who have lost their jobs. But the reality is clear: What we have done is not working,” Kennedy wrote on X.
Several senior leaders from the agencies were also fired on the same day, including Brian King, director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. Peter Stein, director of the center’s Office of New Drugs, also resigned, according to sources.
