Colorado is joining 19 states and Washington, D.C. in filing a lawsuit to challenge recent cuts made to the U.S. Health and Human Services.

According to the lawsuit, the reductions would destroy “lifesaving” programs, leaving states to pick up the added costs.

The lawsuit’s central focus is on Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s announcement in March that he would be restructuring the HHS agency by eliminating 10,000 employees and cutting 15 of the department’s 28 agencies.

Kennedy said he is working to reduce redundancies in the department, while noting that HHS is one of the nation’s costliest programs with an annual budget of about $1.7 trillion. The budget primarily funds Medicare and Medicaid programs.

According to the lawsuit, the workforce decrease announced in March is in addition to the 10,000 employees cut by the Trump administration as part of his campaign to shrink the size of the federal bureaucracy. Trump — who tasked the Department of Government Efficiency to root out “waste, bloat, and insularity” — has also cited government accountability as a core reason for the cuts and reorganization of various federal agencies.

The administration has often pointed to the government’s $36 trillion in debt and $1.8 trillion deficit last year, while Trump’s allies have also argued that running trillion-dollar deficits means successive federal governments have decided to sacrifice the future stability of generations of Americans in order to pay for today’s spending programs.

In announcing that Colorado would be joining the lawsuit, Attorney General Phil Weiser said that the federal health agency protects and advances all Americans’ health and well-being.

“Under Secretary Kennedy’s recent restructuring, that mission is in jeopardy, with Colorado and other states harmed by the undermining of the agency’s statutory mission to address HIV/AIDs and other infectious diseases, the devastation of its capacity to address behavioral health issues like the opioid crisis, and the destabilization of the Food and Drug Administration,” Weiser said in a statement. “We are suing to stop the reckless dismantling of HHS and protect the health and security of Coloradans.

The lawsuit, filed this week in a Rhode Island federal court, includes attorneys general from Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.

Since Trump took office, Weiser, who is running for governor, has joined over 15 lawsuits to fight orders to end birthright citizenship, tariffs, and various cuts to federal agencies. Another recent filing fights the Trump administration over halting wind energy development.

Colorado’s Democratic-led legislature foresees more legal battles against the Trump administration. In the 2025 session, lawmakers passed a measure giving Gov. Jared Polis $4 million to hire more attorneys at the Department of Law to represent the state in future litigation.

Republicans called the measure irresponsible in a year when the state faced a $1 billion budget deficit, while Democrats described it as necessary to protect Colorado residents from federal actions.