New Mexico joins 22 states suing over health funding cuts
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez addresses reporters at a July 16 press conference in Las Cruces. (Photo by Justin Garcia / Las Cruces Bulletin)
New Mexico on Tuesday joined a multi-state lawsuit against the Trump administration in Rhode Island federal court challenging billions in lost funding to state health departments — including about $60 million to New Mexico.
The U.S. The Department of Health and Human Service last week announced it was pulling $11 billion in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 era grants for infectious disease research, along with $1 billion in cuts for federal grants in mental health and substance use.
The New Mexico Department of Health told Source NM the federal cuts will not affect its measles programs, but confirmed on Monday the estimated $60 million in lost funding impacted 37 temporary contract staff positions.
'We are using state and federal funds to cover all other positions to ensure public health services for New Mexicans are not interrupted,' Nott said in a written statement. 'The loss of the grant money has led to the cancellation of some contracts, but nothing that will impede our efforts to deal with the measles outbreak. We are still evaluating the potential impact of the cancellation of those contracts.'
'Our goal is to continue to provide needed public health services for New Mexicans, and we remain confident we will be able to do so despite this challenge,' Nott said.
Nott deferred comment on the lawsuit to the New Mexico Department of Justice.
In a Tuesday news release announcing the suit, the New Mexico Department of Justice said funding loss would jeopardize state vaccine programs for school enrollment, testing, disease prevention and infectious disease treatments.
'Cuts to HHS will have a devastating impact on our state, slashing critical funding for infectious disease research and response,' Attorney General Raúl Torrez said in a statement. 'At a time when measles cases are on the rise, restricting these resources endangers public health and weakens our ability to prevent outbreaks and protect our communities.'
According to the lawsuit, DHHS informed states the infectious disease grants were canceled immediately and no longer necessary 'now that the pandemic is over.'
The funding cuts for the mental health grants used nearly identical language, the suit noted, but said they had been terminated 'to reduce the overall federal spending.'
The notices from the federal government did not include any allegations of misspending or other graft, which is required to cancel them, according to the complaint.
The cuts to grants, some of which extended into 2027, occurred simultaneously with the announcement that the agency would lay off 10,000 federal public health employees.
The attorneys general requested a judge order the federal government to reinstate the funding, arguing the sudden federal budget cuts were unlawful and would cause 'irreparable harm.'
Some of the states in the lawsuit described the impact the lost grants would have, such as a 12% reduction in workforce in Minnesota and $2 billion in lost funding in California.
In a statement Tuesday, Attorney General Peter Neronha of Rhode Island, who is co-leading the lawsuit, characterized the cuts as 'massive and egregiously irresponsible' and said they 'should put everyone on high alert to the depths this Administration is willing to go. First and foremost, Americans expect their government to protect them from harm. By eliminating billions in critical funding for essential public health initiatives, the Administration is effectively telling the American people to fend for themselves.'
2025-0401_ECF-No.-1-(2025.04.01)-Complaint
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