New York Attorney General Letitia James and the attorneys general of 19 other states were like, “Heck no, Trump administration, you can’t just go around shrinking and restructuring the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services like that!” They sued the administration on Monday because they believe these moves are totally “putting countless lives at risk,” which is a big no-no.
According to the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court of Rhode Island, the federal cutbacks are already causing some major strain on New York’s public health infrastructure, including the Wadsworth Center, a state-run infectious disease lab. The lawsuit argues that what the administration is doing is, like, super unconstitutional and goes against what Congress originally set up when they established and funded the agencies and programs under Health and Human Services.
The states are basically asking the court to put a stop to the administration’s March 27 directive that called for a bunch of layoffs and a whole restructuring of the department. New York Attorney General James was all like, “This administration isn’t just making things more efficient, they’re totally messing things up for all of us.”
Health and Human Services didn’t have much to say about the lawsuit because, you know, they don’t really comment on ongoing legal stuff. But they did announce last month that they were downsizing from 82,000 employees to 62,000 employees, which meant that about 10,000 folks got the boot and others were offered buyouts. They’re also combining their 28 different agencies into 15 because they want to focus on fighting chronic diseases, as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. put it.
But the layoffs last month ended up cutting deep into divisions that work on chronic health conditions like HIV, substance use, and mental health. This has led to a situation where certain state grants and programs are now without anyone to oversee them, which means less funding for places like New York, according to the lawsuit.
The federal staffing cuts have even forced some infectious disease labs run by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to either close or cut back on testing capacity. Now, New York’s Wadsworth Center is the only lab in the whole country that can test for certain diseases, which is a pretty big deal.
The Trump administration has also been slashing minority health offices that are supposed to help disadvantaged groups improve their health. For a diverse place like New York City, those offices are crucial because they serve all kinds of people. Dr. Michelle Morse, the city’s acting health commissioner, expressed concern about how these changes could affect city funding, staffing, disease surveillance, and HIV prevention efforts.
New York and some other states have been pretty successful in blocking federal public health cuts in court, at least for a little while. For instance, a federal judge paused the administration’s plan to cancel over $11 billion in public health funding earlier this year, including $360 million in grants for New York state. That’s a lot of money that the city health department was counting on, so it’s a good thing they were able to put a stop to it, at least for now.
In conclusion, it’s clear that the fight to protect public health services is far from over, and the battle between the states and the Trump administration is heating up. Let’s hope that the courts can help sort things out and keep the health and well-being of the people a top priority.
