MI Sues RFK Jr, HHS Over Health Funding Cuts

MICHIGAN — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel joined 23 other states to sue the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services after it slashed billions in federal health programs.

Last week, the Trump Administration announced it was cutting nearly $12 billion in funding to states for health crises and eliminating 10,000 Department of Human Services jobs. Those cuts included 20 grants promised to Michigan totaling roughly $380 million.

"The Trump administration is now terminating millions in grants being used in our state to support vaccine clinics for kids, crisis mental health services, opioid abuse intervention, and to control disease spread in healthcare facilities," Michigan Attorney General Nessel said. "And once again they’re breaking the law to take money that has been granted to the states. These programs keep Michigan healthy and, in some cases, help save lives, and that’s worth standing up and fighting for."

Nessel's office also said Tuesday that the terminations have caused "chaos for state health agencies that rely on these critical funds for a wide range of urgent health care needs."

One of the grants the administration canceled is a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grant worth $49 million that Michigan officials planned to use in part to vaccinate children and vulnerable adults against seasonal respiratory viruses, according to Nessel's office.

The administration also canceled a grant Michigan officials used to control infectious diseases by upgrading laboratories throughout the state. Without it, Nessel's office said, "the MDHHS’s and local health department’s capacity to respond to healthcare-associated infections in healthcare facilities is effectively eliminated."

The lawsuit asserts that the mass terminations violate federal law because the end of the pandemic is not a "for cause" basis for ending the grants, as none of the appropriated funds are tied to that.

Through the lawsuit, Nessel and the coalition are seeking a temporary restraining order to invalidate HHS' mass grant terminations in the suing states, arguing the actions violate the Administrative Procedure Act.

Joining Nessel in sending this letter are the attorneys general of Arizona California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Wisconsin and Washington, as well as the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania.

Related — Billions Cut From State, Federal Health Programs: What To Know In MI