From Reuters: A federal judge on Tuesday blocked the Trump administration from moving forward with plans to overhaul the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services by substantially cutting its workforce and shuttering entire agencies within the department.
U.S. District Judge Melissa DuBose in Providence, Rhode Island, issued an injunction at the behest of a group of Democratic-led states who challenged a plan HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr announced in March to consolidate agencies and fire 10,000 of the department’s employees.
The layoffs, in addition to earlier buyout offers and firings of probationary employees, reduced the number of full-time HHS employees to 62,000 from 82,000 and left key offices unable to perform statutory functions, the states alleged.
As part of the restructuring plan, HHS said it was also collapsing 28 divisions into 15 and closing half of its 10 regional offices.
The report explains that many employees were put on leave on April, and then formally terminated on June 2.
But on May 5, Democrat attorneys general from 19 states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit, claiming Kennedy did not have the authority to conduct the layoffs and restructering.
Now, a Democrat judge has sided with the Democrat-led lawsuit.
Big ruling out of federal court in Rhode Island – judge Melissa DuBose blocks most of HHS’s reorganization/mass layoffs. Among the first rulings that may be impacted by SCOTUS’s CASA opinion, judge asks parties to file notice on how that may impact rulinghttps://t.co/eQJRb6hqac pic.twitter.com/KJOY9QYlFx
— Jacob Gardenswartz (@reporterjacobg) July 1, 2025
ABOUT THIS JUDGE: Melissa DuBose, age 56-57, was nominated by Joe Biden in February 2024, to serve as the U.S. district judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island. She was confirmed in March 2024 by the U.S. Senate in a 51-47 vote, with then-Sen. Joe Manchin opposing her. She became the first person of color and first openly LGBTQ judge to serve on the court.
The Rhode Island Judiciary welcomed DuBose when her nomination was confirmed.
The #RhodeIsland Judiciary wishes to congratulate District Court Judge Melissa DuBose on her historic appointment to the U.S. District Court. We wish her all the best as she takes the federal bench. pic.twitter.com/SRe8NppYTt
— The Rhode Island Judiciary (@RIJudiciary) December 23, 2024
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