From WisPolitics.com/WisBusiness.com …
— Dem Attorney General Josh Kaul has joined his 14th lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration, accusing Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of “dismantling” the Department of Health and Human Services.
The lawsuit, filed by 19 states, seeks an order forcing Kennedy to halt further cuts of staff and resources to HHS. Kaul argued the cuts are ripping necessary health resources from Wisconsinites.
“A dangerous mix of conspiracy theories and the extreme ideology reflected by DOGE are causing a staggering amount of damage to the extraordinarily important work of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, resulting in increased and unnecessary risk to people’s health and well-being,” Kaul said in a release.
Kennedy had announced in March he planned to restructure HHS. He collapsed the department’s 28 agencies into 15 and slashed 10,000 federal employees in the department.
The lawsuit argued these changes will “undermine” the nation’s health system, shuttering infectious disease laboratories, firing mental health treatment workers and getting rid of the CDC maternal health team.
“This and other lawsuits we’ve joined are seeking to stem the harm,” Kaul said. “But it’s also critical for Congress to get off the sidelines and help stop HHS from continuing down this senseless course.”
WisGOP spokesperson Anika Rickard said in a statement to WisPolitics this is “another political lawsuit” by Democratic attorneys general.
“The majority of voters in Wisconsin elected President Trump for his politics, and the President is keeping his promises,” Rickard said. “Attacks on the Administration are an attack on the voters of Wisconsin.”
Other lawsuits that Kaul has joined against the Trump administration include everything from protesting Trump’s threats to end birthright citizenship and cuts the Department of Education to opposing Trump’s order blocking transgender people from the military.
— A GOP bill would add the chair of the Physician Assistant Affiliated Credentialing Board to the state’s Controlled Substances Board, a move that authors say will ensure better representation for PAs.
Sen. Jesse James, R-Thorp, and Rep. Barbara Dittrich, R-Oconomowoc, are circulating a co-sponsorship memo for the bill to other lawmakers.
They say PAs are “integral” to fighting the opioid epidemic and addressing controlled substance use as frontline health care providers, but aren’t currently represented on the Controlled Substances Board, which oversees Wisconsin’s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program.
“This update will strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration, enhance public health efforts, and ensure the Board benefits from the perspective of all major prescribing professions,” authors wrote, arguing the change would be an “important and commonsense update” to the board.
The board currently includes nine members, including the chairs of the Pharmacy Examining Board, the Medical Examining Board, the Dentistry Examining Board, and the Board of Nursing, according to the Legislative Reference Bureau.
The co-sponsorship deadline is 4 p.m. May 15.
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