Attorney General Nessel Sues to Stop Dismantling of Health and Human Services Department

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel today joined 18 attorney’s general in filing a lawsuit (PDF) against Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and other Trump administration officials to stop the dismantling of HHS. Since taking office, Secretary Kennedy and the Trump administration have fired thousands of federal health workers, shuttered vital programs, and abandoned states to face mounting health crises without federal support. The attorney’s general argues that Secretary Kennedy and the Trump administration have robbed HHS of the staff and resources necessary to effectively serve the American people and will be asking the court to halt further dismantling and restore key program operations. On March 27^th , Secretary Kennedy revealed a dramatic restructuring of HHS as part of the president’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) initiative. The secretary announced that the department’s 28 agencies would be collapsed into 15, with many surviving offices shuffled or split apart. He also announced mass firings, cutting 10,000 full-time employees on top of about 10,000 who had left already, which together would slash the department’s headcount from around 85,000 to 65,000. On April 1, Attorney General Nessel joined a coalition of 23 attorney’s general in filing a lawsuit against Secretary Kennedy and the Trump administration for abruptly and unlawfully slashing billions of dollars in vital state health funding. On April 4, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order against the Administration, temporarily reinstating the funding.  Joining Attorney General Nessel in this lawsuit are the attorney’s general of Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware,        Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.