Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the country’s health agency will cut 10,000 jobs from its 82,000 workforce. He said this is a major cut that is characterized by the US health secretary, which has characterized federal bureaucracy as rationalizing its federal bureaucracy amid internal resistance to the administration’s agenda.
The cuts announced Thursday, along with previous restructuring and voluntary acquisitions, mean that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will lose around 20,000 workers.
Kennedy said the department would close half of its regional offices and establish a new institution called the “healthy American administration” or AHA.
“We’re not just reducing bureaucratic sprawl, we’re reconciliating our organization with our core missions and new priorities in reverse the chronic disease epidemic,” Kennedy said Thursday morning.
HHS is one of the largest branches of the federal government and oversees the agency, which is a budget of $170 million and is well-known. Among the agencies under HHS’ supervision are the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The key jobs these agencies carry out include protecting Americans from outbreaks and infectious diseases at the CDC, directing the world’s largest publicly funded biomedical and behavioral research institute at NIH, providing health insurance to 137 million Americans through CMS’s healthcare programs and Medicaid, and approving and regulating national medical devices.
Donald Trump and his billionaire alliance Elon Musk oversee large-scale federal employment initiatives through informal “government efficiency” and have taken over the agency as part of an effort to reduce the federal bureaucracy, particularly with the shaking cuts of healthcare providers.
“What you’ve been to a health agency should be done with incredible attention and consideration to the hundreds of millions of Americans who rely on their jobs to stay healthy and get medical care when they get sick,” said Chiquita Brucksle, formerly a CMS administrator for the Biden administration and now a senior fellow at the Century Foundation. Brooks-Lasure said he took a “wrecking ball” to the health agency and “laying out thousands of people won’t drive us forward.”
In his announcement, Kennedy hinted at internal resistance to the HHS’ upheaval, saying, “In one case, the rebellious bureaucrat prevented access to the secretary’s office to a closely guarded database that could reveal the risks of certain drugs and medical interventions.” Kennedy did not specify the database in question or the medical intervention.
In his cut description, HHS said it plans to eliminate 3,500 full-time employees from the FDA. The administration argued that the cuts would not affect inspectors and reviewers of drugs, medical devices and food products. The CDC loses 2,400 staff and management for strategic preparation and response will be folded into the CDC. NIH will lose another 1,200 employees at 27 laboratories and centres. CMS loses 300 people. HHS did not provide a detailed breakdown of the programs, services, or roles to cut.
Washington Democratic Sen. Patty Murray said the country is in the middle of a severe flu season and in the midst of an expansion of measles outbreak in West Texas. Murray added that the administration’s move appears to be an illegal “clash” of funds allocated by Congress.
The restructuring will consolidate 28 branches of the division into 15 new divisions, including the new AHA. Aha combines HHS offices in one central office that deal with addiction, mental health, toxic substances and occupational safety, among other things, the agency said. According to HHS, the new unit will also centralize functions such as diplomacy, human resources and IT.
“Today’s announcement is not just a restructuring of the Department of Health and Human Services, it’s a catastrophe for the health of all Americans,” said Democrat Sen. Edward Markey, a Democrat in Massachusetts. “Kennedy, Musk and Trump serve only himself and the wealthiest people in our country.”
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Democrats argued that tax cuts were helping to extend the tax cuts for the wealthy, but consumer advocates also sounded alarms, claiming that a massive layoff would inevitably close the program.
Public citizens of the consumer group said the FDA cuts could “sell unsafe drugs and medical devices, and we all suffer from preventable diseases.”
Research funding is under threat, leading to massive restructuring. The NIH has cancelled around 400 active grants since the administration took the reins and then took the reins with its diversity, equity and inclusive programme. Transgender Issues; and South Africa and now Covid-19 research as a refund target. Long Covid’s Office of Research and Practice announced this week that it will be closed as part of a reorganization.
A natural report on Wednesday revealed that federal workers who manage government research investments with scientists had been instructed to cancel Covid-19 research grants. Funding from the same institution has been thrown into tumultuous research on a variety of diseases, including pediatric cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.
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Reuters contributed to the report
