Judge Orders Halt To Mass Layoffs At Dept. Of Health And Human Services

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

A federal judge on July 1 ordered officials to stop the overhaul of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), finding that the layoffs enacted in April likely ran counter to federal law.

“With respect to the merits, the Court concludes the States have shown a likelihood of success on their claims that the HHS’s action was both arbitrary and capricious as well as contrary to law,” U.S. District Judge Melissa DuBose wrote in a 58-page ruling that granted a motion from states including New York for a preliminary injunction against HHS.

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in March announced a major overhaul of the agency, including the planned terminations of some 10,000 workers and the reorganization of various divisions. Workers were terminated in April.

Nineteen states and Washington sued HHS in May, alleging the overhaul violates federal law and the U.S. Constitution.

They said in a motion for a preliminary injunction, or a court-ordered halt to the overhaul while the legal case proceeds, that Kennedy’s March announcement was arbitrary and capricious. Under the Administrative Procedure Act, judges can halt decisions they find are “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law.”

The directive was “arbitrary and capricious because Defendants’ purported justifications for the Directive are conclusory and unsupported by any evidence,” the states said.

Kennedy said the overhaul was happening in part to streamline the agency to make it more efficient and effective.

“But there is nothing that connects Defendants’ sweeping actions to these wholly conclusory statements,” the states said. “Defendants do not explain, for example, how the March 27 Directive will make HHS more ’responsive.‘ Nor do they cite anything to suggest that mass layoffs will make the agency more ’efficient.’”

In their response to the motion, government officials said that the Administrative Procedure Act claims suffered from deficiencies, including overlooking “the cost-saving value of actions like consolidating redundant departments.”

DuBose, the judge, said that she reviewed the March directive and testimony delivered by Kennedy on the matter and did not find “a reasoned explanation” for the overhaul.

“Instead of undertaking an intentional and thoughtful process for weighing the benefits and drawbacks of implementing the sweeping policy change, the Defendants hastily restructured the sub-agencies and issued [mass layoff] notices,” she said. “The Defendants have failed to demonstrate how the workforce terminations and restructurings made the subagencies more efficient, saved taxpayer dollars, or aligned with HHS’s priority of ‘ending America’s epidemic of chronic illness, by focusing on safe, wholesome food, clean water, and the elimination of environmental toxins.’”

The judge ordered HHS to stop taking any action to implement the mass layoffs and restructuring announced by Kennedy.

She said the government must file a status report on or before July 11 at 5 p.m. apprising her of how officials are complying with the order.

She also requested the parties to address how, if at all, a recent Supreme Court ruling that restrains how judges can issue nationwide injunctions against presidential policies affects the case.

A separate judge in May blocked the overhaul of HHS and some other agencies. That temporary restraining order was later converted to a preliminary injunction.

The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to intervene in that case. Justices have not yet ruled in the matter.