Attorney General Ellison sues HHS, Kennedy to reverse illegal terminations of public health grants

Co-leads coalition of 23 states and D.C. in lawsuit against illegal termination of $11B in critical public health grants, including $250M to Minnesota

Terminations threaten America’s ability to respond to infectious diseases and other threats at a time when deadly diseases are on the rise

April 1, 2025 (SAINT PAUL) — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison today co-led a coalition of 23 states and the District of Columbia in filing a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for abruptly and illegally terminating $11 billion in critical public health grants to the states, including more than $250 million to Minnesota.

The grant terminations, which came with no warning or legally valid explanation, have quickly caused chaos for state health agencies that continue to rely on these critical funds for a wide range of urgent public health needs such as infectious disease management, fortifying emergency preparedness, providing mental health and substance abuse services, and modernizing public health infrastructure.

In Minnesota, the terminations will significantly damage important programs of the Minnesota Department for Health, like emergency preparedness and response activities for infectious diseases such as avian influenza (H5N1), anthrax, and tuberculosis, as well as for viral hemorrhagic fevers such as Ebola, Marburg, and Lassa. The terminations will also harm efforts to bolster the capacity of the public health workforce in the areas of disease surveillance, detection, and outbreak response, as well as efforts to expand and strengthen the capacity of public health laboratories to test and conduct surveillance for COVID-19 and other emerging diseases.

The HHS cuts further threaten the urgent public health needs of states around the country at a time when emerging disease threats — such as measles and bird flu — are on the rise, Attorney General Ellison and the coalition warn.

“The Trump Administration are gluttons for breaking the law to weaken our country and put Americans in danger,” Attorney General Ellison said. “These terminations are as treacherous as they are illegal. They’re also a maddeningly predictable consequence of handing Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. the keys to America’s public-health system. I will use every tool at my disposal to protect Minnesotans and all Americans from the consequences of this dangerous law-breaking.”

Congress authorized and appropriated new and increased funding for these grants in COVID-19-related legislation to support critical public health needs. Many of these grants are from specific programs created by Congress, such as block grants to states for mental health and substance abuse and addiction services. Yet on March 24, with no legal authority or explanation, Secretary Kennedy’s HHS agencies arbitrarily terminated these grants “for cause” effective immediately claiming that the pandemic is over and the grants are no longer necessary.

In their lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island, the coalition of attorneys general and governors assert that the mass terminations violate federal law because the end of the pandemic is not a “for cause” basis for ending the grants, especially since none of the appropriated funds are tied to the end of the pandemic which occurred more than a year ago. HHS’ position, up until a few days ago, was that the end of the pandemic did not affect the availability of these grant funds. Moreover, for some of the grants, termination “for cause” is not a permissible basis for termination, yet the federal government unlawfully terminated them.

With this lawsuit, Attorney General Ellison and the coalition are seeking a temporary restraining order to invalidate Secretary Kennedy’s and HHS’ mass grant terminations in the suing states, arguing that the actions violate the Administrative Procedure Act. The states are also asking the court to prevent HHS from maintaining or reinstating the terminations and any agency actions implementing them.

Joining Attorney General Ellison in co-leading today’s lawsuit are Attorney General Phil Weiser of Colorado, Attorney General Rob Bonta of California, Attorney General Peter Neronha of Rhode Island, and Attorney General Nick Brown of Washington. They are joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, and Oregon, and Wisconsin. They are additionally joined by the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania.