HHS layoffs were likely unlawful and must be halted, US judge says
[July 02, 2025]
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A federal judge ruled that recent mass layoffs
at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services were likely unlawful
and ordered the Trump administration to halt plans to downsize and
reorganize the nation's health workforce.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Melissa DuBose granted the preliminary
injunction sought by a coalition of attorneys general from 19 states and
the District of Columbia in a lawsuit filed in early May.
DuBose said the states had shown “irreparable harm,” from the cuts and
were likely to prevail in their claims that “HHS’s action was both
arbitrary and capricious as well as contrary to law.”
“The executive branch does not have the authority to order, organize, or
implement wholesale changes to the structure and function of the
agencies created by Congress,” DuBose wrote in a 58-page order handed
down in U.S. district court in Providence.
Her order blocks the Trump administration from finalizing layoffs
announced in March or issuing further firings. HHS is directed to file a
status report by July 11.
An HHS spokesperson said the administration is reviewing the decision
and considering next steps.
"We stand by our original decision to realign this organization with its
core mission and refocus a sprawling bureaucracy that, over time, had
become wasteful, inefficient and resistant to change," Andrew Nixon said
in an emailed statement.
The ruling applies to employees in four different parts of HHS: the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the Center for Tobacco
Products within the Food and Drug Administration; the Office of Head
Start within the Administration for Children and Families and employees
of regional offices who work on Head Start matters; and the Office of
the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation.
[to top of second column]
|
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,
testifies during a House Energy and Commerce Committee, Tuesday,
June 24, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
 Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy
Jr. eliminated more than 10,000 employees in late March and
consolidated 28 agencies to 15. Since then, agencies including the
CDC have rescinded layoffs affecting hundreds of employees,
including those monitoring HIV, hepatitis and other diseases.
The attorneys general argued that the massive restructuring was
arbitrary and outside of the scope of the agency's authority. The
lawsuit also says the action decimated essential programs and pushed
burdensome costs onto states.
DuBose wrote that states have lost access to “funds, guidance,
research, screenings, compliance oversight, data, and, importantly,
the expertise and guidance on which they have long relied.”
The cuts are part of a federal “Make America Healthy Again”
directive to streamline costly agencies and reduce redundancies.
Kennedy told senators at a May 14 hearing that there is “so much
chaos and disorganization" at HHS.
But the restructuring had eliminated key teams that regulate food
safety and drugs, as well as support a wide range of programs for
tobacco, HIV prevention and maternal and infant health. Kennedy has
since said that because of mistakes, 20% of people fired might be
reinstated.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
