KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City, Missouri, leaders said Friday they’ve joined a federal lawsuit that alleges public health program cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services are “unlawful.”
At issue are funds that went to support vaccinations, disease tracking and public health staffing.
The Kansas City, Missouri, Health Department says the March 2025 cuts leave it unable to move forward with an infectious disease testing laboratory. City leaders say the cuts also impacted a program to vaccinate adults without insurance, and an initiative to screen certain people for preventable diseases like high blood pressure.
The federal government terminated the cuts, citing its decision to declare the end of the public health emergency announced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But the lawsuit claims the funding was never tied to the public health emergency.
LINK | Read the lawsuit
“This funding was never meant to be temporary - it was a critical investment in our country’s ability to respond to current and future health threats,” KCMO Health Department Director Dr. Marvia Jones said Friday in a press release. “Cutting these programs now is not just shortsighted, it’s dangerous.”
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit include Harris County, Texas, Columbus, Ohio, Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee, KCMO, and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO.
“At a time when measles threatens our young people and Kansas Citians in need of lifesaving cures see federal research funding slashed, I believe it’s important that we as cities and people stand up for common sense and public health in the courts,” Mayor Quinton Lucas said Friday. “I am proud to join other mayors and cities who will continue working to save lives in Kansas City and around our country while the federal government plays politics.”
Defendants in the suit include Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Acting Director Susan Monarez.
In an introductory video in March, Kennedy, Jr. said he would make the department more efficient.
“I want to promise you now, we’re going to do more with less. No American is going to be left behind," Kennedy, Jr. said.
Lucas responded by calling local health departments the frontlines of disease control and prevention. He said the testing laboratory would allow the city to get results faster than waiting on a state facility in Jefferson City.
“Every dollar counts," Lucas said. "We are not wasteful in our health department. We are making sure we’re addressing the needs at issue. Everything that comes to the city budget goes to somewhere good.”
The suit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court, District of Columbia, asks the court to find the government’s actions as unlawful and reinstate eliminated grant funding.
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