Coalition Mounts Legal Challenge to Elimination of NIOSH, Other Federal Agencies
The American Federation of Government Employees, the American Public Health Association, and other unions, nonprofits, and city and county governments united on April 29 in a “massive coalition” to challenge the Trump administration’s reorganization of the federal government, according to APHA’s news release. The complaint, filed April 28 in the northern district of California, argues that President Donald Trump exceeded his authority when he issued Executive Order 14210, which directed federal agencies to significantly reduce staffing levels. This action, taken without the approval of Congress, has led to the elimination of at least 150,000 positions in the federal government, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, including almost all positions at NIOSH.
The complaint filed on behalf of the coalition (PDF) explains that Article I of the United States Constitution grants Congress the power to create, define, and fund departments, agencies, and offices within the executive branch. Under Article II, the president has the authority to nominate the heads of these departments, agencies, and offices, as well as to create, reorganize, or abolish offices established by the president. The complaint states that “Article II does not authorize the President to fundamentally reorganize the executive branch by, for example, ordering government-wide terminations of federal employees, or restricting or abolishing the congressionally authorized work of even a single agency that he did not establish.”
Executive Order 14210 directs the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to carry out the government-wide reorganization. The complaint alleges that OMB, OPM, and DOGE exceeded their authority and violated the Administrative Act by carrying out the president’s order.
Pages 82 and 84 of the complaint cite the “virtual elimination” of NIOSH as among the harms done to the plaintiffs by Executive Order 14210. Two labor unions among the coalition—the Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees—assert that their members will be harmed by the loss of NIOSH research, investigations, and guidance to address occupational injuries and illnesses, which will increase health and safety risks to workers across the country. Another plaintiff, the government of Harris County, Texas, oversees a locale that contains extensive petrochemical infrastructure and has relied on NIOSH to identify causes of fires when initial assessments were inconclusive. “Loss of NIOSH personnel and institutional knowledge will compromise this function, leaving Plaintiff Harris County ill-equipped to respond to industrial hazards and fire risks,” the complaint states.
APHA Executive Director Dr. Georges C. Benjamin issued a statement citing the “massive indiscriminate staff reductions at key health agencies,” including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as among the organization’s reasons for joining the complaint. “We’re challenging this reorganization and mass-firings, which harm our members, other public health workers around the country and ultimately communities across the nation,” Dr. Benjamin said. “We need to expand resources to support public health, not fire the people and gut the systems working to protect all of us.”
More information is available in APHA’s news release. To join AIHA’s campaign to restore NIOSH, visit the association’s website.
