States, led by California, file lawsuits to obstruct Trump administration's planned cuts to the health department
The Showdown Over Health and Human Services
The federal government has been hit with a legal storm as California, joined by 19 other states, hit Trump's administration with a lawsuit on May 5, 2025, contesting the epic overhaul of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
The suit challenges the moves as unconstitutional, arbitrary, and capricious, and goes beyond presidential power by breaking congressional funding appropriation laws dealing with specific government services. In a statement, California's Attorney General Rob Bonta explained their stance, "The Trump Administration doesn’t have the authority to cripple a department that Congress created, nor can it refuse to spend funds that Congress has specifically allocated."
The changes under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have sent shockwaves throughout the department. Thousands of employees were instantaneously booted from emails, laptops, and offices, leading to a chaotic and abrupt halt in department operations. The depleted workforce has resulted in the poor functioning of essential offices, halting the answering of phone calls, factory shutdowns, suspended experiments, cancelled trainings, postponed site visits, and ceased application portals.
The lawsuit asserts that the restructuring plan poses a threat to Americans by eliminating vital programs and undermining critical services. For instance, some of the crucial services that have been jeopardized due to these cuts include laboratory monitoring of the current measles outbreak.
Furthermore, the administration's actions have eliminated over a dozen data-gathering programs that monitored deaths and diseases across the nation. Congress granted HHS a massive $1.8 trillion budget in 2024 and has enacted several laws outlining its mission. It's worth mentioning that HHS has lost approximately 20,000 of its 82,000 employees since the start of the Trump administration.
A Closer Look: The Trump and California Dance of Litigation
Over the first 100 days of Trump's presidency, California has sued the administration 17 times, while supporting other suits against the federal government on numerous occasions. California's governor has pushed for green initiatives, making it no surprise that one of the lawsuits involved the federal government's blockage of offshore and onshore wind energy projects.
Kennedy's directives, deemed "folly" by scientists, have been a point of contention. Rather than promoting vaccination to combat the measles outbreak, Kennedy directed the department to seek new treatment methods. Meanwhile, Kennedy's history of promoting conspiracy theories and advocating for the dismantling of HHS has raised eyebrows.
A Shocking Turn: HHS's Alleged Disorder
With such significant personnel losses and abrupt changes, the future of HHS is uncertain. The Associated Press uncovered that cuts have eliminated various US government health-tracking programs. These cuts have left agencies struggling to maintain the necessary functions and capacities required as per their statutory responsibilities, crippling a broad spectrum of services and programs.
States joining California in the lawsuit are Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
- The lawsuits against the Trump administration allege that the restructuring of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is unconstitutional and goes beyond presidential power.
- California's Attorney General, Rob Bonta, stated that the administration doesn’t have the authority to cripple a department that Congress created.
- The depleted workforce at HHS has led to the poor functioning of essential offices, resulting in shutdowns, suspended experiments, cancelled trainings, postponed site visits, and ceased application portals.
- The lawsuit asserts that the restructuring plan poses a threat to Americans by eliminating vital programs and undermining critical services, such as laboratory monitoring of the current measles outbreak.
- California has sued the Trump administration 17 times in the first 100 days of his presidency, and one of the lawsuits involved the federal government's blockage of offshore and onshore wind energy projects.
- The Trump administration's decisions, including promoting conspiracy theories and advocating for the dismantling of HHS, have raised eyebrows.
- Kennedy's directions, deemed "folly" by scientists, have been a point of contention, as he has directed the department to seek new treatment methods instead of promoting vaccination to combat measles outbreaks.
- The Associated Press uncovered that cuts have eliminated various US government health-tracking programs, leaving agencies struggling to maintain necessary functions and capacities.
- In addition to California, states such as Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin have joined the lawsuit against the Trump administration.
