SEATTLE (KOMO) — Twenty-four states have formed a coalition to sue the Trump Administration and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Tuesday over the "sudden and reckless" decision to slash billions of dollars in public health grants to the states.

Amid Trump's tariff implementation arriving on "Liberation Day" Wednesday, combined with Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) dismissing thousands of federal employees—including HHS employees—the lawsuit argues that HHS "abruptly and arbitrarily terminated $11 billion of critical public health funding."

Washington Attorney General Nick Brown said in a press release Wednesday that the grant terminations of COVID-19 initiatives and various public health projects across the country "came with no warning or legally valid explanation" and have suddenly created "chaos for state health agencies."

“We can’t make America healthy by spreading preventable diseases,” said Brown. “Aside from the illegality of these actions, the administration is also choosing to neglect the biggest public health challenges, including substance abuse and mental health crises, facing our communities.”

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Brown said Washington health agencies rely on the funding for public health needs such as managing infectious diseases, preparing for emergencies, and providing mental health and substance abuse services.

Washington is leading the lawsuit alongside Attorneys General Phil Weiser of Colorado, Peter Neronha of Rhode Island, Rob Bonta of California, and Keith Ellison of Minnesota.

The lawsuit asks the court to immediately stop the Trump administration from rescinding the money, which was allocated by Congress during the pandemic and mostly used for COVID-related efforts such as testing and vaccination. The money also went to addiction and mental health programs.

Washington stands to lose more than $159 million in funding, according to Brown's release. Brown said the loss of funds jeopardizes "important state public health programs and initiatives."

Other parties on the lawsuit include the Attorneys General of Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, and Wisconsin, as well as the Governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania.

The lawsuit comes as Washington state leaders have been pushing back on cuts to Medicaid as hospitals have already begun mass staffing cuts because federal Medicaid reimbursements have not been renewed for 2025.

HHS announced last week that it would be laying off 10,000 more full-time workers across different departments. Kennedy said the layoffs would streamline the agency to make it "more efficient and more effective."

RELATED | Layoffs begin at US health agencies in effort to 'streamline' HHS

The cuts are in addition to the roughly 10,000 employees who voluntarily left once Kennedy took over HHS, bringing the department down from 82,000 employees to about 62,000.

The HHS also recently lost a top vaccine official with the FDA, one of the agencies HHS oversees. Dr. Peter Marks resigned Saturday and criticized Kennedy for promoting “misinformation and lies” about vaccine safety.

The Associated Press and The National News Desk contributed to this story.