Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul files lawsuit against HHS, RFK Jr. for cutting $12B in grants

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul filed a lawsuit against Health and Human Services and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for cutting $12 billion in grants.

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The lawsuit is a joint effort from 24 attorneys general and governors.

Kennedy announced a plan last week to remake the department, which, through its agencies, is responsible for tracking health trends and disease outbreaks, conducting and funding medical research and monitoring the safety of food and medicine, as well as for administering health insurance programs for nearly half of the country.

Illinois could reportedly lose hundreds of millions of dollars from these cancelations by HHS, Raoul said.

"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, with no legal authority or explanation, HHS agencies on March 24 arbitrarily terminated these grants 'for cause' effective immediately claiming that the pandemic is over and the grants are no longer necessary," Raoul said.

On Tuesday, the lawsuit was filed at a U.S. District Court in Rhode Island. The lawsuit claims cutting the grants violated federal law "because the end of the pandemic is not a 'for cause' basis for ending the grants."

The coalition is seeking a temporary restraining order to invalidate HHS' grant terminations.

The attorneys general who are part of the coalition are from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Wisconsin and Washington, as well as the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania.

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