- HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the elimination of 10,000 full-time positions (25 percent of the workforce) and the closure of half its regional offices to cut bureaucratic inefficiencies while preserving essential services.
- Major agencies affected include FDA: 3,500 jobs cut (19 percent), excluding food/drug safety inspectors, CDC: 2,400 positions eliminated (18 percent), sparing infectious disease divisions, NIH: 1,200 jobs lost (six percent) and CMS 300 positions reduced (four percent).
- HHS will consolidate multiple offices into new entities, including the Administration for a Healthy America (merging HRSA, SAMHSA, NIOSH, etc.); the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement (overseeing civil rights, Medicare appeals); and the Office of Strategy (combining ASPE and AHRQ for policy research).
- The CDC will absorb emergency preparedness functions from ASPR, involving 1,000 employees. The Administration for Community Living (ACL) will be integrated into other HHS agencies.
- The restructuring, pending approvals, will roll out over the next year. Kennedy emphasized cost savings, mission realignment and reversing chronic disease trends while maintaining core services.
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has announced the elimination of 10,000 full-time positions and closure of half of its regional offices to shrink its workforce by roughly 25 percent.
In a video posted on March 27 on X, formerly known as Twitter, Kennedy said the restructuring would streamline operations while preserving essential health services. "We're going to eliminate an entire alphabet soup of departments and agencies while preserving their core function," Kennedy said in the video. (Related: Trump administration announces mass layoffs at HHS: CDC and NIH among hardest hit as 5,200 federal health workers face termination.)
According to a union notification, affected employees, many represented by the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), received layoff notices on March 28, which would be effective in May.
Based on the internal HHS documents, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is set to lose 3,500 jobs (19 percent), though the agency has assured that drug and food safety inspectors will not be impacted. Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will see 2,400 positions eliminated (18 percent), with infectious disease divisions spared from the reductions.
Additionally, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will lose 1,200 employees (six percent) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will reduce its staff by 300 (four percent).
"We aren't just reducing bureaucratic sprawl. We are realigning the organization with its core mission and our new priorities in reversing the chronic disease epidemic," Kennedy said in a separate statement. "This Department will do more, a lot more, at a lower cost to the taxpayer."
HHS will also conduct organizational restructuring
In line with "doing more," the HHS also unveiled organizational restructuring to streamline operations, improve health outcomes and strengthen enforcement and preparedness.
For instance, with the creation of the Administration for a Healthy America, the HHS will consolidate the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to focus on primary care, maternal and child health, mental health, environmental health, HIV/AIDS and workforce development.
HHS will also create Assistant Secretary for Enforcement to oversee the Office for Civil Rights, the Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals and the Departmental Appeals Board to enhance regulatory adherence and ensure greater accountability within its operations.
Meanwhile, the newly established Office of Strategy will combine the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to strengthen research that informs HHS policies and improves federal health programs.
Emergency response functions currently managed by the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) will transition to the CDC, involving around 1,000 employees. Additionally, the Administration for Community Living (ACL), which serves older adults and individuals with disabilities, will be integrated into other HHS agencies.
The restructuring is expected to take effect over the next year, pending congressional and regulatory approvals.
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