U.S. Court Injunction Halts Trump Dismantling HHS

PROVIDENCE, RI — A Rhode Island court has granted a preliminary injunction filed by Attorney General Peter Neronha and 19 other attorneys general against Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and other Trump administration officials to stop dismantling HHS.

In the ruling, United States District Judge Melissa R. DuBose concluded, “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. As Judge Smith in this district court recently warned when presented with the declining depth of civics education in public schools, ‘we may choose to survive as a country by respecting our Constitution, the laws and norms of political and civic behavior, and by educating our children on civics, the rule of law, and what it really means to be an American, and what America means. Or, we may ignore these things at our and their peril.’ “

Neronha lauded the ruling and pledged to continue fighting the Trump Coup attempts to usurp Congress’s Constitutional powers over agencies.

Trump’s First Six Months Spent Dismantling HHS, American Agencies

“For nearly six months, the Trump Administration has tried to illegally decimate important federal agencies upon which the American people rely, and for nearly six months, Democratic attorneys general have sought and won relief on behalf of the American people,” said Neronha. “Today’s preliminary injunction order guarantees that essential HHS programs and services – including cancer screenings, mental health and addiction treatment, and early childhood education – will remain available to the American people as the case proceeds.

“We must continue to hold this Administration accountable for the undue harm they are causing the American people, and with each legal victory, we are doing just that.”

Neronha co-leads this lawsuit to prevent the Trump administration from dismantling HHS with New York Attorney General Letitia James and Washington Attorney General Nick Brown. They are joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.New York, et al v. Kennedy Jr. PI order