Nineteen states and the District of Columbia brought suit to challenge the Secretary of Health and Human Services’ March 27, 2025 directive dismantling the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through mass layoffs and reorganization. The complaint alleges that Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. unlawfully terminated 10,000 employees, shuttered dozens of agencies, collapsed twenty-eight agencies into fifteen, closed half of HHS’s regional offices, and suspended critical programs ranging from vaccine testing to Head Start, to maternal health, and to 9/11 responder care. Plaintiffs assert that the actions were arbitrary and capricious, not justified by funding needs, and designed to incapacitate HHS in violation of statutory mandates and congressional appropriations. Plaintiffs seek declaratory and injunctive relief to prevent further dismantling of HHS, arguing that the directive violates the separation of powers, the Appropriations Clause of the Constitution, the Administrative Procedure Act, and multiple federal statutes and regulations that authorize and require HHS’s programs.
