HHS Announces Major Layoffs, Restructuring

In keeping with the Trump administration’s mission to downsize the federal government, the Department of Health and Human Services, led by RFK, Jr., plans to axe roughly 10,000 jobs in addition to the 10,000 employees who previously left through President Trump’s voluntary separation policy. This change will bring the HHS’s total work force down to 62,000, a 25% reduction from the beginning of the year.

The HHS also indicated it will close 5 of its 10 regional offices, although the Department says this move will not affect basic operations in those areas. The HHS is responsible for overseeing well-known agencies like the FDA, CDC, and NIH, all of which played prominent roles in the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thousands of job cuts are expected at all of these individual agencies, according to the Department’s statement.

Secretary Kennedy stated that the moves reduce “bureaucratic sprawl” and recenter the Department on its “core mission,” and that the Department “will do more… at a lower cost to the taxpayer.”