The Trump administration’s plan to claw back about $11 billion in federal money previously allocated to the states for public health, mental health, and addiction services is unlawful, 23 states and the District of Columbia said in a new lawsuit Tuesday.
The complaint filed in the US District Court for the District of Rhode Island said the cuts the US Department of Health and Human Services announced on March 24 with no advance warning will have devastating consequences for communities throughout the country.
The states—including New York, California, Rhode Island, and North Carolina—use the money to fund their health departments’ core functions, including vaccinations and disease tracking and testing programs, they said.
The sole basis provided for the withdrawal, according to the states, was that the government originally appropriated the money through Covid-19-related laws. But the funding terminations exceed the agency’s statutory and regulatory authority, and are unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act, they said. The ending of the pandemic isn’t a lawful “for cause” basis to end the grants, they said.
The money can’t be made up using state-only resources, the states said. Thus, key public health programs nationwide will have to be dissolved if the funding isn’t restored, they said.
The states are seeking a temporary restraining order, as well as preliminary and permanent injunctions restoring the funds.
The US Department of Justice, which represents HHS, declined to comment. An HHS spokesperson said in an email Wednesday that it doesn’t comment on ongoing litigation.
The states’ attorneys general, including Colorado’s Phil Weiser, represent the plaintiffs.
The case is Colorado v. US Dep’t of Health & Human Servs., D.R.I., No. 1:25-cv-00121, complaint filed 4/1/25.
