Senate Democratic leaders joined Attorney General William Tong Tuesday as he announced a lawsuit to prevent U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. from cutting $175 million in public health services in Connecticut.
The announcement of a lawsuit among 23 states and the District of Columbia filed against the federal agency came a week after HHS declared that $11 billion in federal public health funding would be canceled, with a trickle-down effect impacting states.
The funds, which were allocated by Congress, have supported public health services including monitoring infectious diseases, providing health screenings to newborns, providing vaccinations and viral testing.
The Trump administration’s cuts will also impact funds supporting addiction recovery and mental health services, and exacerbate a larger consolidation at HHS recently announced that will lead to 20,000 planned layoffs.
“We are suing once again to stop this reckless escalation of Donald Trump’s lawless war on American families and workers,” Tong said. “Trump and anti-vax conspiracy theorist Kennedy want to steal $175 million from Connecticut meant to fight infectious disease, combat the opioid and addiction crisis, prevent suicide, and keep Connecticut babies safe.”
Tong noted that the state of Connecticut has already joined lawsuits seeking to prevent defunding of medical research, law enforcement and education since the Trump administration took office in January.
“We’re in the fight of our lives right now, and there’s not a day that goes by without an attack on Connecticut families, children, education, healthcare, police, making us less safe and more sick,” said Tong.
During the press conference, Senate President Martin Looney warned that the federal cuts would have dire consequences for everyday Americans.
“People will die as a result of this [decision],” Looney said. “Children will die. Parents of young families will die. Those in frail health will die. Elderly people will die. That’s what this is all about if the attorney general and his colleagues are not successful in reversing this decision.”
Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, referenced additional cuts made through the federal Department of Education and significant cuts to aid received by schools and food banks across the state.
“There’s a MAGA goal out there that’s aiming to make people sick, stupid and starving,” Duff said.
Tong’s lawsuit, filed alongside other states, seeks a temporary restraining order to reverse the grant terminations and asks Rhode Island’s U.S. District Court and block the terminations. The grants were largely previously authorized and appropriated by Congress to support public health needs.
Sen. Saud Anwar, Senate chair of the Public Health Committee, compared the pandemic to a disaster, noting that after the fact, people asked what they could have done differently to save more lives. Using these funds, he said, the state was working to be better prepared for future crises.
“We were using these funds to create a scientific infrastructure to identify illnesses in a timely fashion,” Anwar said. “And then guess what happens? Everything is taken away and stopped.”
