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By Nate Raymond
(Reuters) -A group of Democratic-led states on Tuesday sued Republican U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to challenge its cancellation of $11 billion in federal grants the states were allocated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Attorneys general and governors from 23 states and the District of Columbia in a lawsuit filed in federal court in Rhode Island argue the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services lacks the authority to unilaterally claw back funding the states had already built health programs around.
The grant funding was being used by states to track, prevent and control infectious diseases, including measles and bird flu, as well as track mental health services and fund addiction treatment.
"By eliminating billions in critical funding for essential public health initiatives, the administration is effectively telling the American people to fend for themselves," Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said in a statement.
HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The slash in funding was the latest wave of cuts to be overseen by new Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The department said the funds were largely used for COVID-19 testing, vaccination, and other responses to the pandemic in announcing the termination of the grants last week.
"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," the department said at the time.
The funding included money from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for pandemic preparedness, overdose prevention and community health programs, and from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration for addiction treatment and suicide prevention.
"Slashing this funding now will reverse our progress on the opioid crisis, throw our mental health systems into chaos, and leave hospitals struggling to care for patients," New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Bill Berkrot)
