Legal Actions APHA Has Been Part Of:

Coalition Sues Trump EPA for Failure to Implement Life-Saving National Soot Standard

APHA and leading health organizations sue EPA over proposal to allow power plants to release more mercury and other toxic pollutants

APHA and several organizations sue EPA over illegal repeal of climate protections

Leading Public Health Groups Seek Expedited Injunctive Relief Against Immunization Schedule Changes, Upcoming ACIP Meeting; Hearing Scheduled Friday, February 13

APHA Joins Others to Sue HHS, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for Unlawful, Unilateral Vaccine Changes

Massive Coalition of Unions, Non-Profit Groups, and Local Governments File Omnibus Challenge to Unconstitutional Reorganization of Federal Government

Researchers Challenge NIH's Politically Driven Grant Cancellations

Judge Issues Temporary Restraining Order on OMB Freeze

Lawsuit filed challenging the DOGE’s secret operations

The Latest on How APHA Is Protecting Public Health (June 2026)

House Appropriations Committee begins consideration of FY 2027 LHHS-ED bill

On the morning of June 5, the House Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee is scheduled to take up the FY 2027 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill. Specific details on the legislation are expected to be released after the subcommittee markup and before the full House Appropriations Committee takes up the bill on Tuesday, June 9 at 11:00 a.m. APHA has been advocating for increased funding for both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Health Resources and Services Administration, and other federal health agencies that are funded by the bill. APHA also submitted written testimony for the record to the committee in support of strong public health funding in FY 2027. APHA members can contact their members of Congress urging them to prioritize public health funding in the FY 2027 Labor-HHS-Education bill. 

More details about the House bill will be made available on the APHA website after the full committee markup. The Senate Appropriations Committee has not yet announced its schedule for the Labor-HHS-Education bill.

APHA urges increased funding for ATSDR

On May 19, APHA was joined by other leading public health, medical and environmental health organizations in sending a letter to House and Senate Appropriations Committee leaders urging them provide $100 million for the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry in FY 2027.

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) establishes and maintains effective relationships with communities throughout the nation that have been impacted by environmental hazards. The agency assists these communities by investigating and addressing the health concerns resulting from environmental hazards. ATSDR’s environmental health expertise, regional locations and ability to respond 24/7 enables the agency to respond to and address environmental health threats from chemical spills and other emergencies at a moment’s notice. In FY25, ATSDR responded to over 700 community, state and federal requests for assistance. In the last year, ATSDR conducted over 80 evaluations analyzing the health risks of over 200,000 people with potential exposures that could cause cancer, disabilities, neurologic, respiratory and cardiovascular complications, or other severe health problems. The agency also educated over 30,000 health professionals on ways to diagnose and treat conditions related to hazardous exposures.

The House FY 2027 Interior-Environment Appropriations bill, passed by the full Appropriations committee on June 3, would provide $78 million for ATSDR, a reduction of $1.9 million compared to the FY 2026 funding. 

Unfortunately, the FY 2027 Interior-Environment bill would also significantly cut important programs at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The House bill would provide $7 billion for EPA, a cut of $1.8 billion below current-year funding. In March, APHA and other public health organizations sent a letter to House and Senate Appropriations Committee leaders urging them to provide at least $12 billion for the agency in FY 2027. The Senate Appropriations Committee has not yet announced its schedule for considering the bill.

APHA and other health partners advocate for active transportation funding in transportation reauthorization legislation

On May 18, APHA joined the American Heart Association and other public health organizations in sending a letter to the leaders of the House and Senate committees with jurisdiction over surface transportation reauthorization legislation, urging them to prioritize active transportation such as walking, bicycling and rolling in the upcoming surface transportation reauthorization. Strong federal investment in active transportation is essential to improving public health, mitigating traffic, improving air quality and reducing injuries and deaths on our nation’s roads.

Specifically, the organizations urged the committees to support active transportation in reauthorization legislation by supporting the following provisions:

• Protect and expand dedicated funding for walking, bicycling and rolling infrastructure.
• Prioritize safety for vulnerable road users through Complete Streets, Safe Routes to School and other proven design strategies and safety measures.
• Center community need in program design and project selection; and make it easier for local communities to access the necessary funds for those projects.
• Ensure accountability by measuring health, safety and accessibility outcomes.

While the House Transportation Committee recently reported the Build America 250 Act transportation reauthorization legislation out of committee with most active transportation programs intact, it fails to fully invest in these programs and weakens some provisions that would ensure the funds are not diverted for other purposes. APHA will continue to monitor the legislation as it moves through the House and will monitor any proposals that may become viable in the Senate.

APHA joins comments urging FDA to maintain strong e-cigarette approval standard

On May 11, APHA joined comments to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration along with 72 other organizations urging action regarding the published guidance “Flavored Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) Premarket Applications – Considerations Related to Youth Risk; Draft Guidance for Industry”. Specifically, the comments urge FDA to maintain a strong standard of “robust and reliable evidence” for premarket review of e-cigarette products that are alleged to have a benefit of helping adults quit smoking, and that benefit must be substantial enough to outweigh the risks to non-smokers such as youth who do not smoke yet. The guidance maintains that standard, and the comments applaud FDA for keeping the standard strong to protect youth from flavors that may appeal to them. Furthermore, the comments point out that the guidance weighs some flavors as being “more appealing to youth” but fails to take into account that certain flavors may appeal more or less to youth over time, and thus those determinations may allow approval of a product that becomes more appealing and therefore risky to youth at a later time. The comments also oppose categorizing menthol and mint as lower risk flavors for youth, pointing out that FDA has repeatedly acknowledged menthol flavoring as a factor that increases youth initiation of tobacco products. The comments urge FDA to strengthen the guidance in a way that will protect youth and other non-smokers from the approval of e-cigarette products that appeal to them and that are more likely to initiate new smokers without having the alleged benefit of helping current smokers quit.

Watch: Making sense of the buzzwords and protecting public health

You’ve probably heard the buzzwords — "Big Beautiful Bill," "Reconciliation," "FY 2025," "FY 2026," "Rescission Package." What do these terms mean, and how could they impact public health funding in your community?

Watch: When Cutting Costs, Costs Health: What You Need to Know about Federal Policy Changes

In June and July, the U.S. Congress passed two large bills that formally upend decades of public health work in the U.S. and abroad. To pay for tax cuts, Congress - with pressure from the President - changed eligibility criteria for Medicaid, SNAP, and codified funding cuts for global health and democracy programs and public broadcasting.