By I. Edwards HealthDay Reporter<\/b>
\n<\/b><\/p>\n
THURSDAY, April 3, 2025 (HealthDay News) — A group of 23 states and Washington, D.C., is suing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) over a sudden cut of $12 billion in public health funding.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit says the rollback will disrupt vital services. It was filed Tuesday and asks the court to stop the cuts right away.<\/p>\n
Most of the money — roughly $11.4 billion — was clawed back last week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), CNN <\/em>reported.<\/p>\n These funds were originally given to states and local health departments during the pandemic.<\/p>\n Another $1 billion cut came from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.<\/p>\n HHS said it does not comment on ongoing litigation, CNN <\/em>reported.<\/p>\n \u201cThe COVID-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago. HHS is prioritizing funding projects that will deliver on President Trump\u2019s mandate to address our chronic disease epidemic and Make America Healthy Again,\u201d the agency said in a statement last week.<\/p>\n But state leaders argue the funds were meant to support long-term improvements to public health — not just for COVID<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cSlashing this funding now will reverse our progress on the opioid crisis, throw our mental health systems into chaos, and leave hospitals struggling to care for patients,\u201d New York Attorney General Letitia James<\/a>, said in a news release<\/a>.<\/p>\n New York could lose more than $400 million, according to the release.<\/p>\n Dr. Joseph Kanter<\/a>, CEO of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, said the money was helping improve testing for diseases and outbreaks.<\/p>\n \u201cThis funding was appropriated by Congress and obligated to health departments with work plans, budgets, and timelines approved by federal agencies,\u201d Kanter said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cWith congressional and executive branch support, these funds were being used to modernize data systems, bolster laboratory capacity, improve electronic case reporting of time-sensitive infectious disease outbreaks, improve H5N1 and measles testing, and enhance biomedical terrorism preparedness, to name just a few examples,\u201d Kanter added. \u201cWe worry the abrupt loss of these activities will impair states and territories in their ability to respond to current and future threats.\u201d<\/p>\n The lawsuit says the Trump administration is violating the U.S. Constitution by canceling funds that Congress had already approved.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen people talk about there being a constitutional crisis, this is what they\u2019re talking about,” said Daniel Karon<\/a>, a Cleveland-based attorney who is not involved in the lawsuit.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Congress says, \u2018Spend on this,\u2019 the legislative branch has spoken. But let\u2019s say the executive branch replies, \u2018We don\u2019t feel like spending that way.\u2019 Then the judicial branch gets involved and says, \u2018We\u2019re the final decision maker and have been for centuries, and Congress said to spend this way.\u2019 Yet the executive branch says to the Supreme Court, \u2018We don\u2019t care what you think; we\u2019re still not going [to] spend that way,\u2019 similar to the way the executive branch ignored the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling in TikTok,\u201d Karon concluded. \u201cNow you have the three branches of government fighting with each other. There\u2019s your constitutional crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n More information<\/strong><\/p>\n The Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan tax policy group, is tracking ongoing federal budget cuts<\/a>.<\/p>\n