In a major overhaul, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will lay off 10,000 workers and shut down entire agencies, including ones that oversee billions of dollars in funds for addiction services and community health centers across the country.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. criticized the department he oversees as an inefficient “sprawling bureaucracy” in a video announcing the restructuring Thursday. He faulted the department’s 82,000 workers for a decline in Americans’ health.
“I want to promise you now that we’re going to do more with less,” Kennedy said in the video, posted to social media.
Kennedy acknowledged that it will be a “painful period” for the nation’s top health agencies, which are responsible for monitoring infectious diseases, inspecting foods and hospitals and overseeing health insurance programs for nearly half the country.
Overall, the department will downsize to 62,000 positions — losing 10,000 jobs through layoffs and another 10,000 workers who took early retirement and voluntary separation offers encouraged by President Donald Trump’s administration.
HHS provided on Thursday a breakdown of cuts at the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services:
— 3,500 jobs at the FDA, which inspects and sets safety standards for medications, medical devices and foods.
— 2,400 jobs at the CDC, which monitors for infectious disease outbreaks and works with public health agencies nationwide.
— 1,200 jobs at the NIH, the world’s leading public health research arm.
— 300 jobs at CMS, which oversees the Affordable Care Act marketplace, Medicare and Medicaid.
In its statement, HHS said it anticipates the changes will save $1.8 billion per year, but it did not provide a breakdown or any other details about the savings. The department has a $1.7 trillion annual budget, most of which is dedicated to funding Medicare and Medicaid programs used by older, disabled and poor Americans.
Beyond losing workers, Kennedy said he will shut down entire agencies, some of which were established by Congress decades ago.
Several agencies will be folded into a new Administration for a Healthy America, Kennedy said.
Those include the Health Resources and Services Administration, which oversees and provides funding for hundreds of community health centers around the country, as well as the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which funds clinics and oversees the national 988 hotline. Both agencies pump billions of dollars into on-the-ground work in local communities.
The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, created by a law signed by then-President George W. Bush and responsible for maintaining the national stockpile that was quickly drained during the COVID-19 pandemic, will be folded into the CDC.
