New York Attorney General Letitia James spotlighted her lawsuit against the “dismantling” of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services at a recent town hall in Westchester.
James held a community impact hearing on Thursday at SUNY Westchester Community College where she assembled a group of state attorneys general who she has been collaborating with on lawsuits against the Trump administration’s executive orders. James updated her constituents on their legislation and heard their concerns.
“These meetings are really an opportunity for us to hear directly from our constituents to frame our litigation on the issues that you are experiencing in your lives, as a result of executive orders,” James said in her remarks.
James’ office has filed 12 lawsuits and 18 amicus briefs against the Trump administration.
Several community members who attended the meeting spoke about issues related to a lawsuit that the group of attorneys general filed two days earlier against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to block mass firings t they argue would gut programs such as Head Start, SNAP, Medicaid and the World Trade Center Health Program.
The lawsuit, led by James in collaboration with 19 other attorneys general, alleges that the administration violated “hundreds of laws” and “bypassed congressional authority” when it restructured the number of HHS agencies from 28 to 15 and ordered layoffs of around 20,000 employees.
“The choice is very clear. Either we fight for our Democracy or we lose it,” James said at the meeting. “You elected me to stand up and defend the constitution and the rule of law, not to protect and defend the king.”
James referenced a number of cases that the group of attorneys general were successful in getting judges to initially block some of the Trump administration’s actions including its bid to end birthright citizenship, DOGE from accessing social security information and its attempt to overhaul U.S. elections, among others.
“We have successfully blocked some of the administration’s most harmful initiatives, which is why they’re coming after me,” James said, referring to the justice department’s allegations that she falsified her residence status at a home in Virginia for the sake of her mortgage rate. James has called the accusation “baseless” and said Trump is seeking revenge for her past legal actions against him.
Midway through the event, a heckler referenced this investigation as he disrupted the town hall and asked James to apologize for investigating President Trump. James thanked him for coming and said the investigation has been “discredited.”
The panel of attorneys general included Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin and California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
“Everything Trump is doing, he could do it, if he did it legally,” Ellison said, adding the president is trying to collapse all legislative and judicial power into the executive branch.
The Minnesota attorney general went on to address ongoing efforts by conservative pundits to petition President Trump for a federal pardon of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who killed George Floyd in 2020. Elison said that if Chauvin’s federal conviction were to be pardoned, he would return to Minnesota to serve the rest of his sentence in a state prison.
“Chauvin owes me 22 and half years and we will get them,” he said.
One of the first community members to testify before the panel was Allison Lake, executive director of Westchester Children’s Association, who warned about the grave impact that cutting Head Start would have for low-income families in Westchester.
“The potential threat from the federal government to do away with this vital program could be devastating,” Lake said.
James said in response that the lawsuit the attorneys general had filed against HHS had included Head Start, which provides free early childhood education and other services to low-income families. Her coalition is seeking a preliminary injunction against the changes to the federal agency.
Cuts to the program’s staff have caused chaos for local Head Start providers, though the White House has backed away from a plan to shutter the program entirely, the AP has reported.
Thomas Hart, president of Local 94 and an advocate for 9/11 first responders, said that funding for the World Trade Center Health Program was thrown into disarray under Trump’s administration.
“People that were getting sick couldn’t get approved — couldn’t get written appointments for over a month now,” Hart said.
James responded that part of the reason her coalition filed a lawsuit against HSS was because the 9/11 Healthcare fund, which provides life-saving care to more than 137,000 9/11 first responders, was cut.
In February, the Trump administration vowed to reverse initial cuts it made to the World Trade Center Health Program, but the Daily News reported that the agency’s staff remain in limbo and its services disrupted.
“There’s this notion that [World Trade Center Health Program] was restored and it was — but it’s only temporary,” James said. “And that’s why we have to continue to do our work.”
