- The Department of Health and Human Services has initiated layoffs affecting thousands of employees across multiple agencies. The move comes as HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. vowed to do “more with less.”
- The layoffs impact employees at the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration and other institutions.
- The reorganization aims to consolidate various programs under the Administration for a Healthy America.
Full Story
At the direction of the Trump administration, the Department of Health and Human Services has started to lay off thousands of employees across various federal institutions.
HHS referred to it as a “sweeping” restructuring of the agencies responsible for public health, food safety and medical research.
What’s the plan?
The layoffs are part of a broader plan by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to reorganize major programs under a new office called the Administration for a Healthy America.
Kennedy recently criticized the agency for having a “sprawling bureaucracy” while failing to improve Americans’ health and promised to “do more with less.”
The effort entails cutting approximately 10,000 HHS jobs through layoffs. The HHS will cut an additional 10,000 employees through early retirements and voluntary separations.
Who will these layoffs impact?
According to HHS officials, the job cuts will result in the loss of 3,500 FDA employees, 2,400 at the CDC, 1,200 at the National Institutes of Health and 300 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services jobs.
Union officials said the cuts would affect positions in human resources, finance and other departments.
Why now?
The move follows a series of executive actions by President Donald Trump. Last week, one of the orders rescinded collective bargaining rights for federal health agency employees.
The action affects unionized federal workers at the CDC, FDA and other agencies.
How has Washington reacted?
Democrats criticized the move, arguing that it jeopardizes the nation’s ability to monitor disease outbreaks and ensure food and medical safety. This involves restricting funding for research and insurance programs.
However, the Trump administration argued that the cuts are necessary to enhance efficiency and that the department’s current size has not led to improved health outcomes.
