State of New York v. Kennedy

CourtCourt of Appeals for the First Circuit
DecidedSeptember 17, 2025
Docket25-1780
StatusPublished

This text of State of New York v. Kennedy (State of New York v. Kennedy) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the First Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State of New York v. Kennedy, (1st Cir. 2025).

Opinion

United States Court of Appeals For the First Circuit _____________________ No. 25-1780

STATE OF NEW YORK; STATE OF WASHINGTON; STATE OF RHODE ISLAND; STATE OF ARIZONA; STATE OF CALIFORNIA; STATE OF COLORADO; STATE OF CONNECTICUT; STATE OF DELAWARE; THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA; STATE OF HAWAI'I; STATE OF ILLINOIS; STATE OF MAINE; STATE OF MARYLAND; THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN; STATE OF MINNESOTA; STATE OF NEW JERSEY; STATE OF NEW MEXICO; STATE OF OREGON; STATE OF VERMONT; STATE OF WISCONSIN;

Plaintiffs, Appellees,

v.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR., in his official capacity as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES; SUSAN MONAREZ, in her official capacity as Acting Director, First Assistant to the Director, Principal Deputy Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; MARTIN A. MAKARY, in his official capacity as Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; U.S. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION; ANDREW GRADISON, in his official capacity as Acting Assistant Secretary of the Administration for Children and Families; ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES; MARY LAZARE, in her official capacity as Principal Deputy Administrator of the Administration for Community Living; ADMINISTRATION FOR COMMUNITY LIVING; ARTHUR KLEINSCHMIDT, in his official capacity as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES ADMINISTRATION; CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION;

Defendants, Appellants. __________________

Before

Montecalvo, Rikelman, and Aframe, Circuit Judges.

__________________

ORDER OF COURT

Entered: September 17, 2025

1 The government has moved for a stay pending appeal of the district court's August 12, 2025, order clarifying an earlier order that preliminarily enjoined the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS or "the Department") from further implementing its reduction- in-force (RIF) and restructuring plans for four of its sub-agencies.1 See Order of Aug. 12, 2025, New York v. Kennedy, No. 25-cv-196 (D.R.I.), ECF No. 89. In a March 27, 2025, statement ("March 27 Communiqué"), HHS announced that it would "streamline the functions" of the Department, partly by terminating 10,000 employees through a RIF plan, consolidating sub- agencies, and reducing the number of regional offices. Several days later, the Department began dismantling the sub-agencies and placed 10,000 employees on administrative leave. The HHS Secretary acknowledged that the Department did not closely examine employees' job responsibilities before removing them because that would "'take[] too long' and would sacrifice 'political momentum.'" For the reasons that follow, we deny the stay motion.

The plaintiffs are a group of nineteen states and the District of Columbia that filed suit on May 5, 2025, challenging on numerous grounds the March 27 Communiqué and the resulting dismantling of sub-agencies within the Department. They sought a preliminary injunction of the Department's restructuring plans at four of those sub-agencies: (1) the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), (2) the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Tobacco Products (CTP), (3) the Administration for Children and Families' Office of Head Start (OHS) and regional office employees working on Head Start, and (4) the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE). In support of their motion for a preliminary injunction, the plaintiffs submitted dozens of declarations detailing the harms that their own state agencies and programs had begun to face from the implementation of the March 27 Communiqué and the dismantling of these specific federal sub-agencies. According to the plaintiffs, the Department placed on administrative leave and planned to fire large portions of the specific sub- agencies' staffs, leaving the sub-agencies unable to perform functions such as laboratory testing; collecting, analyzing, and publishing critical health data necessary to track and treat infectious diseases and improve maternal and infant health outcomes; and providing technical assistance to the states. In opposition, the government submitted a single declaration stating only that the RIF notices for 300 employees of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) were revoked. In a detailed 58-page opinion, the district court concluded that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on their claim that the Department’s actions in issuing and implementing the March 27 Communiqué were both arbitrary and capricious and contrary to law, in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), and granted a preliminary injunction. See New York v. Kennedy, No. 25-cv-196, 2025 WL 1803260 (D.R.I. July 1, 2025); 5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(A) (requiring courts to hold unlawful and set aside agency actions found to be "arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law"). The government has moved this court for a stay of the injunction pending appeal. In addition to the government's motion, we have received and considered a response from the plaintiffs and a reply from the government.2 1 The August 12 Order clarified a preliminary injunction that the district court issued on July 1, 2025. 2 A group of "non-profit medical, public health, and community organizations" moved for leave to file an amicus curiae brief in opposition to the government's motion for a stay pending appeal. We grant the motion, and the proposed brief is accepted as filed. We consider the amicus brief

2 The district court's August 12 clarifying order applies only to four HHS sub- agencies and bars the government from further enforcing the March 27 Communiqué as to those sub-agencies by prohibiting the continued execution of any existing RIF notices, issuance of additional RIF notices, or placement of additional employees on administrative leave. The order does not require the reinstatement of any employees. The preliminary injunction applies to: CTP, OHS and Head Start employees in regional offices, several components of the CDC,3 and ASPE's Division of Data and Technical Analysis.

As the party seeking a stay pending appeal, the government bears the burden of justifying the extraordinary relief it requests. See Nken v. Holder, 556 U.S. 418, 433-34 (2009). That is because "[a] stay is an 'intrusion into the ordinary processes of administration and judicial review,' and accordingly 'is not a matter of right, even if irreparable injury might otherwise result to the appellant.'" Id. at 427 (first quoting Va. Petroleum Jobbers Ass'n v. FPC, 259 F.2d 921, 925 (D.C. Cir. 1958); and then quoting Virginian Ry. Co. v. United States, 272 U.S. 658, 672 (1926)); see also Rhode Island v. Trump, No. 25-1477, 2025 WL 2621593, at *3 (1st Cir. Sept. 11, 2025). In evaluating the government's stay motion, we must consider four factors: (1) whether the government has made "a strong showing that [it] is likely to succeed on the merits" of its appeal; (2) whether the government has shown that it "will be irreparably injured absent a stay"; (3) "whether issuance of the stay will substantially injure the other parties interested in the proceeding"; and (4) "where the public interest lies." Nken, 556 U.S. at 426 (quoting Hilton v.

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Bluebook (online)
State of New York v. Kennedy, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-of-new-york-v-kennedy-ca1-2025.