DoingItLocal

(Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong today issued the following statement after the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted a preliminary injunction finding Connecticut and a multistate coalition were likely to succeed on their claim that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) decision to provide unfettered access to individual personal health data to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which houses Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), violated the Administrative Procedure Act’s prohibition on arbitrary and capricious rulemaking. The preliminary injunction blocks DHS from using Medicaid data obtained from plaintiff states for immigration enforcement purposes, and blocks HHS from sharing Medicaid data obtained from coalition states with DHS for immigration enforcement purposes. The preliminary injunction will remain in place either until 14 days after HHS and DHS complete a reasoned decision-making process that complies with the Administrative Procedure Act, or until litigation concludes.

 “Donald Trump does not need your private medical records to secure the border. ICE does not need your immunization records, your cancer diagnosis, your prescriptions, or your weight. This rushed and sloppy plan was about one thing—bullying immigrant families away from seeking healthcare. And that makes all of us less healthy and less safe. This is a major early victory, but we are prepared to keep fighting for as long as it takes to protect our privacy and public health,” said Attorney General Tong. 

On July 1, 2025, Connecticut joined a multistate coalition in filing a lawsuit against the Trump Administration arguing that the mass transfer of Medicaid data violates the law and asking the court to block any new transfer or use of this data for immigration enforcement purposes. The lawsuit highlighted that the Trump Administration’s illegal actions are creating fear and confusion leading noncitizens and their family members to disenroll, or refuse to enroll, in emergency Medicaid for which they are otherwise eligible, leaving states and their safety net hospitals to foot the bill for federally mandated emergency healthcare services. In the limited preliminary injunction order, the court ruled that the Trump Administration’s actions were likely arbitrary and capricious and rulemaking in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.

Created in 1965, Medicaid is an essential source of health insurance for lower-income individuals and particular underserved population groups, including children, pregnant women, individuals with disabilities, and seniors. The Medicaid program allows each participating state to develop and administer its own unique health plans; states must meet threshold federal statutory criteria, but they can tailor their plans’ eligibility standards and coverage options to residents’ needs. As of January 2025, 78.4 million people were enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) nationwide. 

“Dr. Malone’s escalating and violent rhetoric—including in the aftermath of this tragic incident—has no place on a panel responsible for determining immunization recommendations for children and adults throughout our country.”

[WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) today called on U.S. Department Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to fire Dr. Robert Malone, a recently appointed member of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), for his violent and incendiary rhetoric in the wake of the recent shooting at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta. The shooting, took the life of DeKalb County Police Officer David Rose, continues to be under investigation as early reports suggest that the gunman was motivated by his misinformation-fueled belief that his depression and suicidality were caused by the COVID-19 vaccine

In a letter to Kennedy, Blumenthal demanded Dr. Malone’s removal and condemned his unfathomable failure of judgment and heartlessness toward the family of slain Officer Rose and for the thousands of CDC staff on whom the work of ACIP depends. Blumenthal also urged Kennedy to restore the 17 qualified experts he had fired from ACIP who had worked to uphold the panel’s commitment to transparency and scientific independence.

Blumenthal wrote, “Just hours before a police officer was brutally murdered and CDC headquarters would be scarred with bullets, forcing hundreds employees into lockdown, Dr. Robert Malone, whom you recently appointed to ACIP, uploaded a post to his personal blog that included an image of a revolver loaded with a single bullet and the words ‘Five out of six scientists have proven that Russian roulette is harmless.’ Less than 48 hours after the attack, Dr. Malone issued a meme-filled post that included violent and threatening images that appeared to be directed at government officials, writing, ‘if you need a disarmed society to govern, you suck at governing.’”

“Law enforcement officers and public health officials already face serious risks in their work protecting the public. Those risks are heightened by ideologically motivated attacks, which send a chilling message about the normalization of violence in public discourse. A federal agency must absolutely avoid even the appearance of legitimating such statements by keeping in a position of power someone who makes them,” Blumenthal continued.

Blumenthal pointed out the harms associated with Kennedy’s efforts to undermine ACIP’s work by replacing qualified members with conspiracy theorists and purveyors of misinformation, “Last week’s profound tragedy shows the harms that result from replacing science with zealotry – not only the increased risk of disease, but also ideologically motivated violence. Appointing Dr. Malone and retaining him in this role would seem to legitimate incendiary rhetoric and dangerous misinformation.”

“I sincerely hope that last week’s attack will demonstrate to you what should have been obvious from the beginning: Dr. Malone has no business being on ACIP, and the firings you ordered to put him there should never have occurred,” Blumenthal concluded.

The full text of Blumenthal’s letter is available here and below.

Dear Secretary Kennedy:

            On August 8, 2025, a gunman opened fire on the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), killing DeKalb County Police Officer David Rose and leaving public health workers at the CDC and around the nation fearing for their safety after years of increasing threats following the COVID-19 pandemic.^[1] While the investigation is ongoing, early reports suggest that the gunman, who fired nearly 500 rounds during the attack, was motivated by his misinformation-fueled belief that his depression and suicidality were caused by the COVID-19 vaccine.^[2]

Just hours before a police officer was brutally murdered and CDC headquarters would be scarred with bullets, forcing hundreds employees into lockdown, Dr. Robert Malone, whom you recently appointed to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), uploaded a post to his personal blog that included an image of a revolver loaded with a single bullet and the words “Five out of six scientists have proven that Russian roulette is harmless.”^[3] Less than 48 hours after the attack, Dr. Malone issued a meme-filled post that included violent and threatening images that appeared to be directed at government officials, writing, “if you need a disarmed society to govern, you suck at governing.”^[4]

Dr. Malone has displayed an unfathomable failure of judgment and heartlessness for the family of slain Officer Rose, and for the thousands of CDC staff on whom the work of ACIP depends. Dr. Malone’s escalating and violent rhetoric—including in the aftermath of this tragic incident—has no place on a panel responsible for determining immunization recommendations for children and adults throughout our country. I therefore call on you to immediately fire Dr. Malone from his role on ACIP.

The shooting of a police officer in the line of duty is not only a criminal act—it is an assault on the stability and safety of our communities. Law enforcement officers and public health officials already face serious risks in their work protecting the public. Those risks are heightened by ideologically motivated attacks, which send a chilling message about the normalization of violence in public discourse. A federal agency must absolutely avoid even the appearance of legitimating such statements by keeping in a position of power someone who makes them.^[5]

Last week’s profound tragedy shows the harms that result from replacing science with zealotry – not only the increased risk of disease, but also ideologically motivated violence. Appointing Dr. Malone and retaining him in this role would seem to legitimate incendiary rhetoric and dangerous misinformation.

Your response must begin with the immediate firing of Dr. Malone, but should rightly include restoring the entire ACIP panel that existed before it was decimated last June. At that time, you replaced 17 sitting members, whose qualifications and expertise were unchallengeable, with conspiracy theorists and purveyors of misinformation. In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal about these firings, you lamented that, without your actions, “the current Trump administration would not have been able to appoint a majority of new members until 2028.”^[6] Your comment shows how thoroughly the Trump Administration has confused independent scientific guidance with its own whims, and betrays a fundamental ignorance of ACIP’s role as an apolitical panel with members appointed by multiple Presidents for overlapping terms. Indeed, for most of the Biden Administration, a majority of ACIP members were appointed during the first Trump Administration.^[7] As the 17 members you fired noted in an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, ACIP’s commitment to transparency and scientific independence have historically made “the decisions and deliberations of this committee a beacon for immunization programs globally.”^[8] Unfortunately, because of your actions, its credibility has been shredded.

I sincerely hope that last week’s attack will demonstrate to you what should have been obvious from the beginning: Dr. Malone has no business being on ACIP, and the firings you ordered to put him there should never have occurred.

[Hartford, CT] – U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Marsha Blackburn (D-TN) sent a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg urging him to shut down Instagram’s new map feature, which would put children’s safety at risk by allowing them to expose their location to dangerous individuals, including pedophiles and traffickers.

“We write to express our concern with the introduction of Instagram’s new map feature, which would allow individuals to share their location in real time with users around the world. For years, we have sounded the alarm regarding real time location sharing on social media platforms—specifically when it comes to underage users—and we again urge you to protect children’s safety instead of potentially exposing their location to dangerous individuals online, including pedophiles and traffickers,” wrote the senators.

“Instagram’s new Map feature will share a user’s last active location with other individuals using the application. While Meta has argued that the feature is inactive unless users opt in to sharing their location, some consumers have reported that their location was automatically shared without their consent. This addition is a cause of particular concern for us when it comes to children and teens that are active on Instagram. Meta’s platforms have been consciously designed to prioritize profit over the protection of its most vulnerable users: our children,” continued the senators. “While Meta has argued that parents with supervision settings on their children’s accounts have control over their location settings, it is clear that existing parental controls are not sufficient. Meta has made it difficult for parents to fully understand or utilize parental controls, leading to abuse, exploitation, and victimization of these precious children.”

“Meta’s track record on protecting children online—even in recent days—is abysmal. From deploying AI chatbots that engaged in sexually explicit conversations with minors to continuing to use kids as products, one can only assume that Instagram’s introduction of real time location sharing will be used to further addict children to social media. Investigations have found in the past that Instagram’s algorithms promote underage-sex content and often facilitate communication between minors and adults. As you know, children often accept follow requests from individuals they do not know personally. Allowing children to share their real time location and more readily displaying where they take pictures to strangers—many of whom may be pedophiles and traffickers—will only increase the dangers children face online due to your inaction. Your company has repeatedly shown that it will always fail to protect children’s lives—unless we pass legislation like the bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act. Allowing the geolocation of minors on your platform is just the latest example of this sad reality,” concluded the senators. “We urge you to immediately abandon Instagram’s map feature and instead institute meaningful protections for children online—they deserve nothing less.”

Video of Senator Blumenthal’s press conference today in New Haven is available here.

The full text of the letter is available here.