As part of a major restructuring, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will lay off 10,000 employees and shut down several agencies, including those that manage billions of dollars in funding for addiction services and community health centers across the country.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. described the department he leads as an “overgrown and inefficient bureaucracy” in a video released Thursday to announce the changes. He also blamed the agency’s 82,000 employees for the decline in Americans’ health.
“I want to promise you now that we are going to do more with less,” Kennedy stated in the video shared on social media.
This restructuring follows weeks of uncertainty within the department, amid rumors of mass layoffs, the revocation of $11 billion in public health funding for cities and counties, a weak response to a measles outbreak, and Kennedy’s controversial remarks on vaccines.
Despite this, the secretary warned that the agency—responsible for monitoring infectious diseases, inspecting food and hospitals, and overseeing health insurance programs for nearly half the population—will face a “painful period.”
In total, the department will downsize to 62,000 employees, representing a loss of nearly a quarter of its workforce. Of these, 10,000 will be laid off, while another 10,000 will take early retirement or voluntary separation packages.
The move drew immediate criticism from public health experts, doctors, current and former department employees, and Democratic lawmakers, who warned of the potential consequences for millions of people nationwide.
“These staffing cuts endanger public health and food safety,” warned Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at Consumer Reports. “They raise serious concerns that the administration’s promise to make Americans healthier could turn out to be nothing more than an empty pledge.”
However, Kennedy defended the restructuring, arguing that the department has failed to increase life expectancy or reduce rates of chronic diseases and cancer.
“All that money,” he said, referring to the department’s $1.7 trillion annual budget, “has not improved Americans’ health.”
Despite his remarks, data shows that cancer death rates have fallen by 34% over the past two decades, preventing approximately 4.5 million deaths, according to the American Cancer Society. This progress is largely attributed to reduced smoking rates, the development of new treatments—many funded by the National Institutes of Health, including groundbreaking immunotherapy—and early detection.
The announcement of the cuts sparked shock and anxiety among health sector workers across the country. Employees at key agencies like the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expressed uncertainty, as they had received no prior notice about the staff reductions.
“It’s incredibly frustrating and unsettling not to know what’s going to happen while we try to keep doing our jobs,” said an FDA employee who spoke anonymously for fear of retaliation. “We’re being vilified and restricted, all while having this guillotine hanging over our heads.”
The Department of Health provided details on Thursday about the cuts, which will affect the FDA, NIH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Union leaders at the CDC in Atlanta said they were informed Thursday morning that the reductions will primarily target administrative roles, including human resources, finance, procurement, and information technology.
At CMS, where the cuts will impact employees who assist Medicare beneficiaries and Affordable Care Act enrollees, the result will be “lower customer service standards” for thousands of cases, estimated Jeffrey Grant, a former deputy director of the agency who resigned last month.
In addition to staff reductions, Kennedy announced that entire agencies—some established by Congress decades ago—will be shut down. Several will be merged into a new “Administration for a Healthy America,” the Department of Health said.
Among the agencies set to be eliminated are the Health Resources and Services Administration, which funds hundreds of community health centers, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which oversees clinics and the national 988 crisis hotline. Both agencies direct billions of dollars toward local healthcare efforts.
The closure of SAMHSA, which was created by Congress in 1992, raises legal concerns and questions about Kennedy’s commitment to addiction treatment and mental health, said Keith Humphreys, an addiction researcher at Stanford University.
“Burying the agency within a larger administrative structure with no clear purpose is not the way to highlight the issue or coordinate a response,” Humphreys said.
The new “Administration for a Healthy America” will focus on maternal and child health, environmental health, and HIV/AIDS efforts, according to the department.
Meanwhile, the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, which was created by a law signed by then-Republican President George W. Bush and is responsible for managing the national stockpile—which was quickly depleted during the COVID-19 pandemic—will also be eliminated and moved under the CDC’s oversight.
Leave a Comment