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centers for disease control (cdc)
20 AGs Sue Trump Admin Over Dismantling of Health Agencies
"This administration is not streamlining the federal government; they are sabotaging it and all of us," said New York Attorney General Letitia James.
May 05, 2025
A coalition of 20 attorneys general on Monday sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and other Trump administration officials in federal court over cuts to the agency, arguing that "dismantling" and "paralyzing" it through terminations and reorganizations is an "unlawful effort" to undercut Congress.
The lawsuit focuses on a March 27 directive that unveiled sweeping changes to HHS, and the plaintiffs are requesting that the court declare the directive unlawful, arguing that it is unconstitutional and violates the Administrative Procedure Act.
"This administration is not streamlining the federal government; they are sabotaging it and all of us," said New York Attorney General Letitia James, one of the attorneys general leading the lawsuit, in a statement on Monday. "When you fire the scientists who research infectious diseases, silence the doctors who care for pregnant patients, and shut down the programs that help firefighters and miners breathe or children thrive, you are not making America healthy—you are putting countless lives at risk."
The lawsuit argues that prior to March 27 the administration had sought to "systematically deprive" HHS of necessary resources, but the March directive was an escalation of this effort, announcing the agency's intention to terminate thousands HHS employees, restructure 28 divisions down to 15, and reduce regional offices from 10 to 5.
"Secretary Kennedy refused to undertake this restructuring legally or carefully," according to the suit, which also highlights that the steep reductions in staff were not slated to yield significant savings.
"The March 27 directive came after scores of probationary employees were laid off and many employees took a buyout offer. None of these layoffs were necessary to accommodate a funding shortfall—Congress's appropriations have remained steady, or in many cases, grown in recent years. All told, 20,000 full-time employees—almost 25% of HHS headcount—would be terminated in a few months to save, by defendants' own estimate, less than 1% of HHS expenditures," according to the suit.
The attorneys general argue that cuts to HHS and its subagencies have prevented them from carrying out their "statutorily required functions." The lawsuit ticks through changes to various agencies within HHS and explains how the March 27 directive has made them unable to do their work.
At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), for example, some 2,400 employees were dismissed on April 1, according to the complaint.
Per the suit, all workers that handled Freedom of Information Act requests have been fired, as have members of the communication team. The cuts have reduced the Division of Global HIV & Tuberculosis's staff by roughly a quarter and also meant that infectious disease laboratories have either been shuttered or reduced their capacity.
"The closure and cuts to infectious diseases laboratories within CDC are perhaps the most egregious example of how the March 27 directive is destroying CDC's ability to meet its statutory mandates to investigate, detect, and identify diseases," according to the suit.
"Since day one, this president and his administration have attempted to illegally decimate agencies across the federal government upon which the American people rely," said Rhode Island Attorney General Neronha, who is also co-leading the suit, in a statement on Monday. "In a world where the next pandemic could be right around the corner, and cases of measles are on the rise, taking an axe to the agency responsible for the health and safety of Americans is wildly irresponsible."
In addition to attorneys general from Rhode Island and New York, the plaintiffs includes state attorneys general from Washington; Arizona; California; Colorado; Connecticut; Delaware; Washington, D.C.; Hawaii; Illinois; Maine; Maryland; Michigan; Minnesota; New Jersey; New Mexico; Oregon; Vermont; and Wisconsin.
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Amidst Cuts Impacting Bird Flu Response, Groups Demand Timely Release of CDC Updates
"New information and transmission countermeasures can and must be developed and shared as rapidly as the virus evolves," wrote the letter's authors.
Feb 25, 2025
A broad coalition of environmental, health, and animal groups is demanding greater transparency from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention when it comes to disseminating information about H5N1, or bird flu, that has sickened hundreds of dairy cattle herds, killed millions of chickens, and also infected dozens of humans.
The Monday letter, which was signed by two staff members at the Center for Biological Diversity on behalf of a larger group that includes Earthjustice, the Animal Legal Defense Fund, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, and others, was sent to CDC acting Director Susan Monarez.
"New information and transmission countermeasures can and must be developed and shared as rapidly as the virus evolves," according to the letter, which says that it has been over a month since the CDC issued a regular update about its bird flu response activity.
On the CDC's "News & Spotlight" page on the section of its website dedicated to bird flu, no update has been posted since January 17. Prior to that date, the page featured regular updates, such as a post about the agency's accomplishments related to curbing bird flu in 2024-25.
Also, the CDC "appears to have delayed or denied the publication of key scientific research on avian influenza in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, including a study suggesting that infected house cats may be transmitting [highly pathogenic avian influenza] to humans," according to the letter. The letter links to February 6 reporting from The New York Times, which says that the CDC briefly posted but then took down a report that discussed cases of potential human-to-cat and cat-to-human transmission of bird flu.
That report now appears online and was posted as part of the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report for February 20.
"This is exactly the kind of information that concerns the public and should have been shared broadly—not withheld—so that Americans could avoid this route of infection and researchers and public health officials could understand and defeat this virus," the letter states.
According to the authors of the letter, publicizing data about bird flu is crucial, especially given reports of federal personnel cuts potentially impacting the government's bird flu response. Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said it had sent termination letters to "several" staff working on the government's bird flu response, and that the agency was working to reverse the firings.
"The CDC should release to the public all information related to the avian influenza outbreak as soon as it is confirmed. This commitment to public transparency is essential to an effective, whole-of-society response to this growing disease threat," the letter concludes.
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CDC Officers Became Sick While Assessing Contamination in East Palestine
The reports add "confirmation that the symptoms reported by East Palestine residents are real and are associated with environmental exposures from the derailment and chemical fire," said one scientist.
Mar 31, 2023
Reports that several investigators with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention became ill earlier this month when they visited East Palestine, Ohio offered the latest evidence on Friday that the air and water in the town is less safe than state officials and rail company Norfolk Southern have claimed, following the company's train derailment in February.
As CNN reported, seven physicians and officers from the CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Service traveled to East Palestine in early March, a month after a train carrying toxic chemicals including vinyl chloride derailed there.
The team reported developing symptoms including headaches, sore throats, coughing, and nausea while they were conducting their door-to-door assessment of public health risks.
The symptoms were similar to those reported by many East Palestine residents since the crash, and are consistent with the physical effects of exposure to vinyl chloride when it is burned, as it was by officials who conducted a controlled release following the derailment to avoid an explosion.
Despite reports from people in the area, who were briefly evacuated and then told just days after the accident that it was safe to return to East Palestine, state officials and Norfolk Southern representatives have insisted that no dangerous levels of contamination have been detected in air or water.
"We must stop playing Russian Roulette with our health and the environment," said environmental justice advocate Erin Brockovich Friday.
\u201cIt just ain't worth it people.\nWe must stop playing Russian Roulette with our health and the environment. \nhttps://t.co/Pxx2vpnodp\u201d— Erin Brockovich (@Erin Brockovich) 1680275822
The report from CDC experts "adds confirmation that the symptoms reported by East Palestine residents are real and are associated with environmental exposures from the derailment and chemical fire," David Michaels, an epidemiologist and professor at the George Washington University School of Public Health and former head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, told CNN.
Norfolk Southern has removed roughly nine million gallons of contaminated wastewater from the site of the derailment so far. Chemicals spilled into local creeks and rivers after the derailment and eventually flowed into the Ohio River.
Residents have expressed frustration over officials' assurances as many have reported symptoms similar to those experienced by the CDC experts.
"They're all scientists," one East Palestine woman named Jami Cozza told a panel of state and federal experts at a town hall on March 2. "They're sitting up here telling us nothing's wrong. I want you to tell me why everybody in my community is getting sick."
The CDC told CNN that the Epidemic Intelligence Service team's symptoms have not persisted since they left East Palestine.
Purdue University engineering professor Andrew Whelton, who has conducted independent studies in East Palestine since the derailment, said on social media this week that he submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the CDC, asking for documents regarding the investigators' illnesses.
\u201cThis weekend, I submitted a #FOIA to the CDC requesting docs related to their team's chemical exposure illnesses and being pulled out of #EastPalestine #Ohio on March 7.\n\nIf true, why have other government employees, contractors, and the public have yet to be notified?\u201d— Andrew Whelton \ud83d\udd25\ud83d\udca7\u2744\ufe0f\ud83c\udf2a (@Andrew Whelton \ud83d\udd25\ud83d\udca7\u2744\ufe0f\ud83c\udf2a) 1680018563
"I think it is important for not only government officials to communicate with each other," Whelton told CNN, "but also to communicate their experiences with the public, so that everybody can understand what's going on, and how help needs to be brought to East Palestine and the surrounding areas."
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