Complaint: County of Santa Clara et al. v. HHS

In March 2021, CSPI and a coalition of food safety, healthcare, and public health advocacy organizations, and government and Indian tribe entities filed a lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) over the Trump-era Sunset Rule. The rule—proposed by the outgoing Trump administration the day after the November 2020 election and finalized the day before President Biden’s inauguration—adds automatic expiration dates to more than 18,000 regulations issued by HHS and its agencies, such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The lawsuit seeks to vacate the Sunset Rule and prevent the substantial harm it will cause to public health. The lawsuit alleges that the Sunset Rule violates both the Administrative Procedure Act and the Regulatory Flexibility Act.