HHS layoffs were likely unlawful and must be halted, US judge says

PROVIDENCE R I AP A federal judge has ruled that latest mass layoffs at the U S Department of Physical condition and Human Services were likely unlawful and ordered the Trump administration to halt plans to downsize and reorganize the nation s wellness workforce U S District Judge Melissa DuBose granted the preliminary injunction sought by a coalition of attorneys general from states and the District of Columbia in a lawsuit filed in early May DuBose mentioned the states had shown irreparable harm from the cuts and were likely to prevail in their states that HHS s action was both arbitrary and capricious as well as contrary to law The executive branch does not have the authority to order organize or implement wholesale changes to the structure and function of the agencies created by Congress DuBose wrote in a -page order handed down in U S district court in Providence Related Articles Senate strikes AI provision from GOP bill after uproar from the states Trump says transients would need to know how to run away from an alligator to flee Florida facility Senate passes Trump s big tax breaks and spending cuts bill as Vance breaks - tie Trump is expected to sign an executive order ending US sanctions on Syria Senate s long day turns to night as GOP works to shore up encouragement on Trump s big bill Her order blocks the Trump administration from finalizing layoffs revealed in March or issuing any further firings HHS is directed to file a status record by July The ruling applies to terminated employees in four different divisions of HHS the U S Centers for Syndrome Control and Prevention the Center for Tobacco Products within the Food and Drug Administration the Office of Head Start within the Administration for Children and Families and employees of regional offices who work on Head Start matters and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation Fitness Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr eliminated more than employees in late March and consolidated agencies to Since then agencies including the CDC have repeatedly rescinded layoffs affecting hundreds of employees including in branches that monitor HIV hepatitis and other diseases The attorneys general argued that the massive restructuring was arbitrary and outside of the scope of the agency s authority The lawsuit also says the action decimated essential programs and pushed burdensome costs onto states The intended effect was the wholesale elimination of a large number of HHS programs that are critical to populace strength and safety the lawsuit argued The cuts are part of a federal Make America Healthy Again directive to streamline costly agencies and reduce redundancies Kennedy described senators at a May hearing that there is so much chaos and disorganization at HHS But the restructuring had eliminated key teams that regulate food safety and drugs as well as help a wide range of programs for tobacco HIV prevention and maternal and infant medical Kennedy has since announced that because of mistakes of people fired might be reinstated The states who joined the lawsuit have Democratic governors and plenty of of the same states plus a scarce others also sued the Trump administration over billion in cuts to general wellness funding A preliminary injunction was granted in that affair in mid-May The Associated Press Soundness and Science Department receives patronage from the Howard Hughes Clinical Institute s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation The AP is solely responsible for all content