OLYMPIA, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – Washington state has joined 23 other states in a new lawsuit against Trump administration funding cuts.

State Attorney General Nick Brown has joined a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after $11 billion in public health grants were terminated.

Brown claims the terminations came with no warning or “valid explanation” and have caused chaos for state health agencies.

The state relies on the funding for infectious disease management, emergency preparedness, mental health and substance abuse services and modernizing public health infrastructure. The cuts would total $159 million in Washington state.

Brown says the funding comes from grants created by Congress and HHS doesn’t have the authority to terminate them.

Meanwhile, HHS claims the grants were created during the COVID-19 pandemic and are no longer necessary.