Attorney General Neronha co-leads lawsuit against HHS, Sec. Kennedy for public health grant cuts
Published on Tuesday, April 01, 2025
Attorney General Peter F. Neronha today co-led a coalition of 23 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., for abruptly and illegally terminating nearly $11 billion in critical public health grants to the states. Attorney General Neronha will host a media availability today to discuss this lawsuit and provide updates on other federal cases (full details below).
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.
“This massive and egregiously irresponsible cut of public health funding should put everyone on high alert to the depths this Administration is willing to go,” said Attorney General Neronha. “First and foremost, Americans expect their government to protect them from harm. By eliminating billions in critical funding for essential public health initiatives, the Administration is effectively telling the American people to fend for themselves. Here in Rhode Island, these cuts will defund programs which ensure our children are properly vaccinated and immunized from preventable disease, and which address health disparities in low-income communities, among others.”
“There is nothing more sobering than a health scare, whether it be your own or that of a loved one,” continued Attorney General Neronha. “We all have either experienced, or know someone who has experienced, the physical and emotional pain caused by health problems. This attack on the health of Americans is a lot of things, but it’s mostly just plain cruel, and we will do everything we can to stop it.”
Rhode Island stands to lose more than $31 million dollars from these cancellations by HHS. If the funding is not restored, important state public health programs and initiatives will have to be dissolved or disbanded, including those that focus on childhood vaccination and immunization, health disparities among high-risk and underserved populations, and laboratory testing capacity
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, Attorney General Neronha warned.
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, such as block grants to states for mental health and substance abuse and addiction services. 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 the grants are no longer necessary.
In their lawsuit filed in 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. HHS’ position, up until a few days ago, was that the end of the pandemic did not affect the availability of these grant 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, Attorney General Neronha 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.
Attorney General Neronha co-leads this lawsuit with Attorney General Phil Weiser of Colorado, Attorney General Rob Bonta of California, Attorney General Keith Ellison of Minnesota, and Attorney General Nick Brown of Washington. 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 Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, and Wisconsin.
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