MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul has joined a coalition to sue the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 

Twenty-three states and Washington, DC are part of the lawsuit. 

It says the department's sudden rollback of $11 billion in public health funding was unlawful and harmful. 

The HHS cuts threaten the urgent public health needs of states around the country at a time when emerging disease threats—such as measles and bird flu—are on the rise, Attorney General Kaul warned.

“These massive, sudden cuts would significantly ratchet up the Trump administration’s attack on programs that support the health and well-being of the American people,” said AG Kaul. “It should go without saying that sacrificing our health to help fund tax cuts for the wealthy is deeply wrong.”

In the lawsuit, states are seeking to immediately halt the administration's funding cuts.