Alliance Alert: The Alliance for Rights and Recovery is closely following the ongoing fight over federal attempts to dismantle vital health and human services. This week, a federal appeals court ruled that the Trump Administration cannot move forward—for now—with its plan to restructure the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which included eliminating 10,000 jobs and collapsing multiple agencies, including parts of the CDC, FDA, and Head Start.
This case underscores how the court system and state attorneys general continue to play a pivotal role in slowing or stopping harmful federal changes that would negatively affect the health and social services people depend on in states like New York.
We are proud to highlight that New York Attorney General Letitia James spearheaded the original lawsuit that resulted in the injunction blocking this reckless restructuring. Her leadership, along with that of other attorneys general across the nation, has ensured that critical functions like infectious disease testing, early childhood services, and public health research are not further undermined.
The Alliance will continue to monitor developments in this case and keep our members informed about how these federal decisions impact the services and rights of New Yorkers and people nationwide.
We will also be exploring these urgent issues at our upcoming Annual Conference, which will feature multiple panels on federal policy changes, how to respond to them, and how to mitigate their harms to people and communities. In particular, we encourage everyone to attend our special workshop, Litigation, Legislation, and Representation. This session will feature leaders from New York, New Jersey, and California protection and advocacy organizations who will share how legal rights groups defend people with mental health and substance use challenges, respond to threats like the weakening of PAIMI, and advance critical civil rights protections.
The conference will be a can’t-miss opportunity to learn, connect, and prepare together for the ongoing federal and state challenges we face.
Entitled “Unbreakable! Harnessing Our Power, Building Our Resilience, Inspiring Hope and Courage”, the conference will be held from September 29-Oct. 1st at the Villa Roma Resort and Conference Center in Callicoon, NY. Please use the following links to register today for the conference and for Villa Roma lodging and meals. Come Join Us!
Trump Administration Cannot Proceed with Overhaul of US Health Agencies, Court Rules
By Nate Raymond and Daniel Wiessner | Reuters | September 17, 2025
Summary
- Court will not lift block on agency cuts pending appeal
- States sued over cuts at food and drug, disease control agencies
- Plans include cutting 10,000 jobs
Sept 17 (Reuters) – A federal appeals court on Wednesday refused for now to allow U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to proceed with a planned overhaul of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which would involve reorganizing several agencies and firing thousands of employees.
A three-judge panel of the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to lift a federal judge’s injunction secured by several Democratic-led states. They had challenged a plan U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr announced in March to carry out a large-scale reorganization of the department.
The 1st Circuit rejected the Trump administration’s claims that the states could not show they would be immediately harmed if the injunction is lifted pending an appeal. The panel noted that the lower court relied on hundreds of pages of testimony from state officials.
“The government does not explain how the district court clearly erred in crediting these uncontroverted facts,” the court said in an unsigned order. All three judges were appointed by former President Joe Biden, a Democrat.
HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, which is spearheading the lawsuit, declined to comment.
Kennedy’s plan to reshape the department involved cutting 10,000 employees and centralizing some functions of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other agencies under his purview.
The 19 states that sued, along with the District of Columbia, challenged HHS’ implementation of its restructuring plan, which also called for collapsing 28 divisions into 15 and closing half of its 10 regional offices.
While the states argued that the entire plan was unlawful, they only asked a judge to block firings and restructurings at four agencies within HHS, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Office of Head Start.
The states said the cuts led to infectious disease lab closures, research being abandoned and partnerships being suspended, rendering the CDC unable to meet statutory mandates to investigate diseases and threatening Head Start centers that support early childhood programs.
In July, U.S. District Judge Melissa DuBose, a Biden appointee in Providence, Rhode Island, agreed, saying the administration “does not have the authority to order, organize, or implement wholesale changes to the structure and function of the agencies created by Congress.”
She ordered HHS to halt mass job cuts and restructurings at the four agencies, which also included the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation.
The administration appealed, saying DuBose’s ruling should be set aside as the lawsuit was functionally identical to two earlier cases in which the 6-3 conservative majority U.S. Supreme Court lifted orders requiring it to reinstate employees let go en masse at other agencies by the administration.
The Trump administration had argued that the states’ case rests on speculation about what harms they would suffer as a result of changes to department services, and that any challenges to the firings had to be pursued by the federal employees themselves before the Merit Systems Protection Board.
But the 1st Circuit on Wednesday said that states rely on HHS for an array of services, such as infectious disease testing and data on maternal and infant mortality and health, and so had a stake in the dispute.
Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston and Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and David Gregorio
Trump administration cannot proceed with overhaul of US health agencies, court rules | Reuters