Nessel sues as Trump health cuts hit Michigan disease, addiction programs

• The Trump administration canceled about $12 billion in federal health care grants to states, including $380 million destined for Michigan
• Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is suing, arguing the administration failed to justify the cuts
• Local health departments across the state are affected by the loss of funding for infectious disease surveillance and vaccinations, as well as substance abuse, gambling and mental health services

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is suing the Trump administration over its cancellation of nearly $380 million in health care grants to the state of Michigan.

Nessel joined a coalition of governors and attorneys general from 23 states and the District of Columbia to file suit Tuesday in US District Court in Rhode Island, alleging that the US Department of Health and Human Services and its leader, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., acted illegally when they canceled the grants.

The lawsuit seeks a temporary restraining order to reverse the grant cancellations while the case proceeds.

“The Trump administration is now terminating millions in grants being used in our state to support vaccine clinics for kids, crisis mental health services, opioid abuse intervention, and to control disease spread in healthcare facilities,” Nessel said in a statement Tuesday. “And once again they’re breaking the law to take money that has been granted to the states. These programs keep Michigan healthy and, in some cases, help save lives, and that’s worth standing up and fighting for.” 

The lawsuit stems from the Trump administration’s decision last week to cancel more than $12 billion in public health grants allocated to state health departments nationwide during the COVID-19 pandemic, including about $11.4 billion allocated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and about $1 billion from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

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Much of the congressionally approved funding was intended to help states address the spread of disease and the secondary effects of the pandemic, like spiking rates of addiction and mental health issues.

Responding to a question from Bridge Michigan about the grant terminations, a spokesperson for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration said “the COVID-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago.” 

But health officials contend that the money was doing more than merely responding to COVID. 

Some of it was meant to better prepare public health agencies to respond quickly to future public health threats, after the pandemic revealed gaps in the nation’s public health systems, said Norm Hess, executive director of the Michigan Association for Local Public Health.

“I understand the sentiment that the COVID pandemic response phase is over, but many of the things that happened during COVID highlighted the need for additional systems, training and staff positions for the next time,” Hess said.

Nearly a week after Bridge Michigan first asked the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services how the cuts might affect Michigan, the department on Tuesday acknowledged 20 canceled grants totaling $380 million.

Most of the money was headed to local health departments throughout the state for things like vaccinating vulnerable Michiganders, providing services for people with serious mental illnesses, addiction and gambling problems, and monitoring wastewater for infectious diseases. 

“We are working with our affected subgrantees and have advised them to hold on spending any unobligated funds, while we review possible reductions in funding and evaluate next steps,” said MDHHS spokesperson Lynn Sutfin.

The Elon Musk-run cost-cutting mission known as the Department of Government Efficiency has reported even larger cuts in Michigan, at $394 million, but DOGE’s accounting has routinely been riddled with major errors.

In the immediate wake of the grant cancellations, state officials and local public health departments funded by the federal grants were scrambling to understand the impact. 

Nessel's office said Tuesday that the terminations have caused “chaos for state health agencies that rely on these critical funds for a wide range of urgent health care needs.”

Among the grants canceled, according to Nessel’s office, is $49 million that remained on a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grant that the state planned to use in part to immunize people against seasonal respiratory viruses. Another grant was being used to control infectious diseases by upgrading laboratories throughout the state. Without it, Nessel’s office said, “the MDHHS’s and local health departments’ capacity to respond to healthcare-associated infections in healthcare facilities is effectively eliminated.”

The coalition’s lawsuit contends the Trump administration violated federal law when it canceled the grants “for cause.” It argues that the end of the pandemic is not a lawful cause for cancelling funds that were not designed to sunset at the end of the pandemic.

Spokespeople for the federal health and substance abuse departments did not immediately respond to a request for comment.