Maryland gets one court win, joins two more suits against Trump administration

Maryland was one of 19 states that won a preliminary injunction Tuesday from a federal judge in Rhode Island blocking the Department of Health and Human Services’ plan to lay off thousands of workers and dismantle several agency programs.

The court victory came the same day that Maryland joined two other lawsuits by Democratic-led states against the Trump administration: One to prevent HHS from providing the Department of Homeland Security with “unfettered access” to personal health data of Medicaid recipients and another to reverse Department of Education cuts to mental health programs.

Tuesday’s ruling by U.S. District Judge Melissa R. DuBose blocked HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s move on March 27 to lay off 10,000 employees and close or consolidate dozens of agcncy offices as part of his Make America Healthy Again program. DuBose, ruling in lawsuit filed May 5 by 19 states and the Distrit of Columbia, said the moves caused “irreparable harms.”

“Critical public health services have been interrupted, databases taken offline, status of grants thrown into chaos, technical assistance services gone, and training and consultation services curtailed. These are not unsubstantiated fears,” DuBose wrote.

When termination notices went out on April 1, the suit says, “employees were immediately expelled from their work email, laptops, and offices, work across the vast and complicated Department came to a sudden halt. Throughout HHS, critical offices were left unable to perform statutory functions.”

“HHS has failed to produce a shred of evidence that services to States and access to critical information would continue uninterrupted, that the harms are minimal or not irreparable, or that it is authorized to act absent Congressional action,” the judge’s order said.

Trump administration tells states it’s freezing $6.8 billion for K-12 school programs

The order also blocked plans to terminate employees at and restructure the offices of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the Center for Tobacco Products, the Office of Head Start and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation.

“Marylanders count on HHS programs every single day, from substance abuse treatment programs that help families in crisis to maternal health initiatives that ensure safe pregnancies and births,” Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown said in a statement about the injuction. “Today’s court ruling ensures these life-saving programs remain intact while we continue our legal fight to protect the health and well being of Marylanders and their families.”

Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) has been leading congressional critic of Kennedy’s, and the Maryland Democratic Party continues to urge residents and others to demand his resignation.

Shared personal data

Brown and 19 other attorneys general also filed suit Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against HHS’ mass transfer of personal information, which the states claim violates federal law.

A summary of the lawsuit, a copy of which was not available Tuesday eveninig, claims states learned about the agency’s plan through news reports on June 13 that said the move was part of a Trump administration plan to create a sweeping database for “mass deportations” and other large-scale immigration enforcement purposes.

Statements from the attorneys general said HHS claimed it gave the personal data to Homeland Security “to ensure that Medicaid benefits are reserved for individuals who are lawfully entitled to receive them.” Medicaid is a shared federal-state program to provide health care to low-income individuals and those in underserved populations, including children, pregnant women, people with disabilities and seniors.

The attorneys general said Congress created Medicaid for the benefit of all residents of the country, regardless of immigration status.

“Immigrants should not be forced to choose between protecting their families and seeking medical care they are legally entitled to receive,” Brown said. “We are acting to defend the privacy of all Marylanders and ensure hospitals aren’t left to bear the burden when patients delay care out of fear.”

HHS spokesperson Andre Nixon said in an email Tuesday afternoon the agency acted within its legal authority and in full compliance with “all applicable laws” through the agency’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Mehmet Oz, a physician who appeared frequently on the “Oprah Winfrey Show” and his own television show before he entered politics, is the administrator for the centers.

“Under the leadership of Dr. Oz, CMS is aggressively cracking down on states that may be misusing federal Medicaid funds to subsidize care for illegal immigrants – that includes California,” Nixon said.

“This oversight effort – supported by lawful interagency data sharing with DHS – is focused on identifying waste, fraud, and systemic abuse,” the statement said. “We are not only protecting taxpayer dollars – we are restoring credibility to one of America’s most vital programs. The American people deserve accountability. HHS is delivering it.”

Education suit

On Monday, Maryland joined 15 other states in a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in the state of Washington to challenge $1 billion in cuts announced in April by the U.S. Department of Education toward mental health programs.

More specifically, the department said cuts targeted contracts to hire more mental health professionals and school counselors, but focused on diversity, equity and inclusion.

The suit says the contract terminations are “unlawful” under the Administrative Procedure Act, a 1946 law that requires that federal agencies proposing new rules and regulations must first publish them in the Federal Register to allow for public comment.

Congress authorized the department to provide an addiitional $100 million in fiscal years 2022 to 2026 through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, in the wake of the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, when a teenager shot and killed 19 elementary school students and two adults at Robb Elementary School.

Brown said in a statement the cuts would affect programs such as nearly $2.5 million already approved toward a school-based mental health fellowship program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. In the last two years, about 67 students have come through the program and worked at 50 public schools “where the need for mental health resources is acute.”

“Established to prevent school violence like mass-shootings, these programs are critical to ensuring the well-being of our students,” his statement said. “We will not allow the Trump administration to threaten our children’s safety or jeopardize Maryland’s programs that support them and set them up for success.”

He called the termination of the grants supporting schools counselors and other mental health professionals “a cruel and reckless action that puts our students at increased risk of suicide and self-harm.”

The suit, filed against Education Secretary Linda McMahon, said the department announced in April it would discontinue the program and “recompete” the funds based on new priorities it identified as “merit, fairness and excellence in education.”

A representative with the department did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Besides Maryland, other states on the Education lawsuit are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin.