Albuquerque, NM – Today, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez 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 its Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., for abruptly and illegally terminating nearly $11 billion in critical public health grants.
The grant terminations, which came with no warning or legally valid explanation, have quickly caused chaos for state health agencies that 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.
The HHS cuts come at a time when emerging disease threats—such as measles and bird flu—are on the rise in states across the country, Attorney General Torrez warned.
“Cuts to HHS will have a devastating impact on our state, slashing critical funding for infectious disease research and response,” said Attorney General Torrez. “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. We are proud to join our Attorneys General from across the country to file this action and highlight how important these funds are to our communities.”
New Mexico risks losing over $40 million due to these cancellations by HHS. Without restored funding, critical state public health programs will be forced to shut down, jeopardizing essential initiatives such as data-driven testing, disease prevention, and infectious disease treatment. Additionally, funding cuts will eliminate support for vital vaccinations, including those required for school enrollment, such as the influenza vaccine.
The cuts apply to grants that Congress created or pre-existing grants whose appropriations were increased in recent years, as long-term investments and support for the states’ public health infrastructure. The grant cuts made unilaterally by HHS and the Secretary are from specific programs that Congress concluded are essential for protecting public health, such as block grants to states for mental health and substance abuse and addiction services.
In their lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island, the coalition of Attorneys General explain that these mass grant terminations violate federal law. Without Congressional action to terminate these funding streams, Secretary Kennedy’s authority to end them is limited. While HHS sent boilerplate termination notices to states on March 24th, claiming the grants were being cancelled immediately “for cause,” this reasoning only applies where the federal government believes a state is not complying with grant terms and requires notice to the recipient about the alleged non-compliance and a chance to explain themselves. Yet no state received any information or actual allegation of non-compliance, let alone sufficient advance notice. Relying on the availability of these Congressionally appropriated funds, states had already financed the grant-supported program and services with the expectation of reimbursement, as they had in the past.
With this lawsuit, Attorney General Torrez and the coalition are seeking an order to invalidate Secretary Kennedy’s and HHS’ mass grant terminations, 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.
Phil Weiser of Colorado, Attorney General Rob Bonta of California, Attorney General Keith Ellison of Minnesota, Attorney General Peter Neronha of Rhode Island, and Attorney General Nick Brown of Washington are co-leading the litigation. They are joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Wisconsin, and the Governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
