Over a dozen states sued the Trump administration Monday for laying off thousands of Health and Human Services staffers, urging a court to reverse job cuts that they argue brought work at large swaths of the Robert F. Kennedy Jr.-led health agency to a “sudden halt.”
The lawsuit — filed in Rhode Island federal court by New York, California, 17 other states and Washington, D.C. — claims the Trump administration has sought to “dismantle” HHS through layoffs that disproportionately hit “disfavored work and programs,” like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration.
HHS is aiming to cut its headcount by 20,000 — or nearly 25% — through a combination of layoffs, buyouts and early retirement offers, the department announced in March, framing it as a “dramatic restructuring” aimed at making HHS more efficient and cutting redundant or unnecessary services. The cuts are part of a wider initiative by the Trump administration, led by billionaire Elon Musk, to slash the size of the federal government.
Since then, thousands of HHS staff have gotten layoff notices. The cuts have hit large agencies like the FDA and CDC, along with departments that handle mental health, federal poverty guidelines and other services, CBS News has previously reported. Deep cuts are also slated for the National Institutes of Health.
Monday’s lawsuit, which names Kennedy and other HHS leaders as defendants, argues these job cuts have “systematically deprived HHS of the resources necessary to do its job.”
The layoffs have allegedly cut off the states from data and made it harder to access grants for everything from worker safety to the Head Start preschool program, the lawsuit argues. The suit also says the agency has shuttered key disease testing labs, forcing them to “find new partners to handle their most difficult testing needs that had previously been handled by the CDC.”
The states are asking a federal judge to halt Kennedy’s directive to reorganize and cut the HHS, arguing the moves exceed HHS’s legal authority and violate the Constitution’s separation of powers doctrine by slashing programs authorized by Congress.
The suit also takes aim at Kennedy’s views, citing his vaccine skepticism and “history of advocating for the evisceration of the Department’s statutorily mandated work promoting public health.” It also pointed to Kennedy’s acknowledgement that 20% of job cuts at the HHS may need to be reversed due to “mistakes.”
An HHS spokesperson said in response to the lawsuit, “HHS remains confident that the process will withstand legal scrutiny.”
“We are following the law, period. Nothing has been rushed and multiple rounds of discussions between divisions and HHS occurred before the announcement. Every step taken has been deliberate, collaborative, and consistent with federal personnel policy and civil service protections,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson also defended changes to the agency, saying they “are designed to strengthen the agency’s capacity to serve the American public, not weaken it.”
Monday’s suit is the latest legal action against the Trump administration’s cost-cutting drive. Almost two dozen states sued HHS last month for cutting public health grants, and labor unions have sued the government over cuts to other agencies.
