Attorney General Anthony G. Brown, along with a coalition of 22 attorneys general and governors from Kentucky and Pennsylvania, has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island, challenges the sudden termination of nearly $11 billion in public health grants which states depend on for various health services.
The terminated grants, previously authorized and increased by Congress amid COVID-19, were meant to support a wide array of public health needs, including disease management, emergency preparedness, mental health, substance abuse services, and public health infrastructure. Maryland, represented by Attorney General Brown, risks losing about $200 million, affecting crucial programs like vaccination drives and disease outbreak tracking.
The coalition argues that the terminations, declared on March 24 with no prior warning or valid legal reasoning, violate federal law. They contend that the end of the pandemic is not a legitimate cause to end these grants, especially as the funds were not exclusively tied to the pandemic’s duration. The lawsuit seeks a temporary restraining order to prevent the enforcement of these terminations, citing violations of the Administrative Procedure Act.
This legal action comes at a critical time as states face rising health threats like measles and bird flu, underlining the ongoing need for robust public health funding and infrastructure.
