Attorney General Ford Sues HHS, Sec. Kennedy to Overturn Public Health Grant Cuts

Carson City, NV — Today, Attorney General Aaron D. Ford joined a coalition of 23 states and the District of Columbia in filing a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., for abruptly and illegally terminating nearly $12 billion in critical public health grants to the states. If this funding were terminated, local public health authorities and the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory would lose a total of $35 million. In addition, this funding cut would impact the Renown Crisis Stabilization Center in Northern Nevada, as well as other nonprofit and university partners. 

 

“The Trump administration has illegally cut funding that jeopardizes approximately $35 million in public health services for Nevadans. This action displays a complete indifference to the lives of Nevadans, and I am confident that we will prevail in court to stop this unlawful and destructive decision,” said AG Ford. “In addition to taking away $35 million from vital public health services, this action has also resulted in several dozen layoffs. The consequences for public health in our state if these illegal cuts stand are dire. As attorney general, I’m suing to defend the rule of law and to protect Nevadans from these unlawful cuts.”

The grant terminations, which came with no warning or legally valid explanation, have quickly caused chaos for state health agencies that continue to rely on these critical funds for a wide range of urgent public health needs such as infectious disease management; fortifying emergency preparedness; providing mental health and substance abuse services; and modernizing public health infrastructure.

 
Reporting shows that Nevada has already been impacted by the cuts to grant funding. The state Department of Division of Public and Behavioral Health has cut 25 grant-funded positions that supported the Nevada State Immunization Program and the Office of State Epidemiology. Three employees have been laid off at the Central Nevada Health District. Twenty were laid off at the UNLV School of Public Health.

 
The HHS cuts threaten the urgent public health needs of states around the country at a time when emerging disease threats—such as measles and bird flu—are on the rise.

 
Congress authorized and appropriated new and increased funding for these grants in COVID-19-related legislation to support critical public health needs. Many of these grants are from specific programs created by Congress. Yet, with no legal authority or explanation, Secretary Kennedy’s HHS agencies on March 24 arbitrarily terminated these grants “for cause” effective immediately claiming that the pandemic is over and, thus, that the grants are no longer necessary.

In their lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island, the coalition of attorneys general assert that the mass terminations violate federal law because the end of the pandemic is not a “for cause” basis for ending the grants, especially since none of the appropriated funds are tied to the end of the pandemic which occurred more than a year ago. The position of HHS until a few days ago was that the end of the pandemic did not affect the availability of these funds. Moreover, for some of the grants, termination “for cause” is not a permissible basis for termination, yet the federal government unlawfully terminated them.

With this lawsuit, AG Ford and the coalition are seeking a temporary restraining order to invalidate Secretary Kennedy’s and HHS’ mass grant terminations in the suing states, arguing that the actions violate the Administrative Procedure Act. The states are also asking the court to prevent HHS from maintaining or reinstating the terminations and any agency actions implementing them.

Joining AG Ford in this lawsuit at the lead Attorneys General Phil Weiser of Colorado, Rob Bonta of California, Keith Ellison of Minnesota, Peter Neronha of Rhode Island and Nick Brown of Washington. In addition, they are joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon and Wisconsin, as well as the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania.

###