HHS layoffs were likely unlawful and must be halted, U.S. judge says
U.S. District Judge Melissa DuBose granted the preliminary injunction sought by a coalition of attorneys general from 19 states and the District of Columbia in a lawsuit filed in early May.
DuBose said the states had shown 'irreparable harm,' from the cuts and were likely to prevail in their claims that 'HHS's action was both arbitrary and capricious as well as contrary to law.'
'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,' DuBose wrote in a 58-page order handed down in U.S. district court in Providence.
Her order blocks the Trump administration from finalizing layoffs announced in March or issuing any further firings. HHS is directed to file a status report by July 11.
The ruling applies to terminated employees in four different divisions of HHS: the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the Center for Tobacco Products within the Food and Drug Administration; the Office of Head Start within the Administration for Children and Families and employees of regional offices who work on Head Start matters; and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. eliminated more than 10,000 employees in late March and consolidated 28 agencies to 15. Since then, agencies including the CDC have repeatedly rescinded layoffs affecting hundreds of employees, including in branches that monitor HIV, hepatitis and other diseases.
The attorneys general argued that the massive restructuring was arbitrary and outside of the scope of the agency's authority. The lawsuit also says the action decimated essential programs and pushed burdensome costs onto states.
'The intended effect … was the wholesale elimination of many HHS programs that are critical to public health and safety,' the lawsuit argued.
The cuts are part of a federal 'Make America Healthy Again' directive to streamline costly agencies and reduce redundancies. Kennedy told senators at a May 14 hearing that there is 'so much chaos and disorganization' at HHS.
But the restructuring had eliminated key teams that regulate food safety and drugs, as well as support a wide range of programs for tobacco, HIV prevention and maternal and infant health. Kennedy has since said that because of mistakes, 20% of people fired might be reinstated.
The states who joined the lawsuit have Democratic governors, and many of the same states — plus a few others — also sued the Trump administration over $11 billion in cuts to public health funding. A preliminary injunction was granted in that case in mid-May.
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The Guardian
a day ago
- The Guardian
RFK Jr denies 2028 presidential ambitions after attacks from Trump influencer Laura Loomer
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The Guardian
a day ago
- The Guardian
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Daily Mail
a day ago
- Daily Mail
Fauci's great escape: Explosive Wuhan claim stalks Covid czar... but he still walks free
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Kennedy Jr. and new NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya to look at what 'dangerous' gain-of-function research was actually funded by the U.S. She specifically wanted to figure out whether NIH funding for Ecohealth's partnership with the Wuhan lab was for the experiment that led to the development and lab leak of the COVID-19 virus. 'We look forward to being able to share that, hopefully very soon,' Gabbard said when asked if she uncovered concrete evidence yet. It's been three months since her promise of 'very soon.' Right-wing media personalities haven't let go of the notion that Fauci might be at the heart of the coronavirus' origins. 'If that's true – if it was Peter Daszak's research with the Wuhan so-called bat lady that caused this pandemic, then we did fund it – then Anthony Fauci helped fund the pandemic he was in charge of fighting,' Kelly said in an interview with Gabbard on her SiriusXM show. 'The thing that he denied over and over and over to Senator Rand Paul's questioning under oath,' the DNI replied. But it remains legally questionable if Fauci could be charged with a crime since he is protected under a presidential pardon. covered any potential offenses Fauci may have committed from January 1, 2014 through January 20, 2025. The revelation that Biden's staff allegedly employed an autopen in lieu of the former president's personal signature has cast some doubts on the pardon's legal validity.
