Nearly two dozen U.S. states have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on April 2, challenging the $11 billion in federal fund cuts for health programs, including COVID-19 related measures.
The coalition of state attorneys general filed the lawsuit after the Trump administration decided to cut funding for several medical programs and COVID-19 related efforts nationwide.
The lawsuit was filed in the Federal Court in Rhode Island by 23 states, including New York, Colorado, Columbia, Pennsylvania, and others, who argue that the cuts are illegal and that the federal government has not provided a valid justification for the reductions.
The lawsuit claims that these cuts will severely harm public health and increase the risk of future outbreaks of epidemics and other diseases in the states.
The lawsuit also asks the court to immediately stop the cuts to the funds allocated by the House of Representatives during the pandemic, which are primarily being used for COVID-19 measures like testing and vaccination.
New York Attorney General Letitia James stated that the cuts would reverse progress made in combating the opioid crisis and damage mental health systems.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued notices to employees, and it is expected that 10,000 workers may be laid off.
Despite protests against the cuts, the department has refrained from issuing a statement. In a recent statement, the department mentioned that taxpayers’ dollars would no longer be wasted on a pandemic that has ended.
This statement came after data from the CDC in March showed that, on average, 411 people in the U.S. die from COVID-19 each week, while the federal public health emergency has been lifted.
State health agencies are assessing the impacts of the funding cuts, and the lawsuit notes that thousands of people will lose their jobs and efforts to prevent epidemics like flu and measles will be weakened.