Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to drastically reduce the Health and Human Services workforce by doing away with 13 of the agency’s departments.
In a step motivated by President
Donald Trump
The Department of Government Efficiency reports that HHS is set to undergo significant reductions, with the Secretary aiming to cut approximately 20,000 positions. This move will reduce the workforce from 82,000 employees down to around 62,000.
RFK Jr. announced on Thursday that there will be reductions coming for the large federal organization responsible for overseeing Medicare, Medicaid, and others.
Centers for Disease Control
.
In a six-minute clip, Kennedy states his intention to decrease the organization’s departments from 28 to 15 and cut down the regional offices from 10 to just five.
We plan to achieve more efficiency with fewer resources. We won’t leave any American behind,” he stated. “All these departments will be consolidated and made responsible to you, the American taxpayers and patients.
A press statement regarding the layoffs asserts that this move will enable HHS to save $1.8 billion each year.
According to the announcement, he intends to establish a new section within HHS named the Administration for a Healthy America. This division will handle essential tasks and concentrate on ensuring ‘access to safe and nutritious food, pure water, and the removal of harmful pollutants from the environment.’
RFK Jr., who has been embroiled in controversy because of his views against vaccination, was appointed early this year to head the agency responsible for overseeing America’s healthcare, medications, and vaccine policies along with other significant health-related guidelines at the national level.
He pledged to ‘Make America Healthy Again’ by removing harmful additives from foods and granting greater autonomy to Americans for making personal health choices—such as opting for vaccinations or exploring alternative medicine within their healthcare options.
In his post on X, Kennedy mentioned that although the HHS budget has increased over recent years, we’ve seen rising incidences of cancer and various chronic illnesses. Additionally, he pointed out that even with greater emphasis placed on this health organization, life expectancy among Americans has decreased.
He admitted that there could be a ‘difficult phase’ during the transition as reductions are implemented and the ‘administrative structure’ is overhauled, yet asserted that ultimately this process will ‘make the HHS more efficient.’
It seems that one of the divisions likely to be hit hardest by these cutbacks is the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is expected to shed 3,500 staff members. This agency, operating with a budget of $7 billion, has the responsibility for ensuring the safety of vaccines and medications, along with overseeing most of the U.S.’s food supply and tobacco products.
A fact sheet asserts that the FDA budget reductions will not influence drug, medical device, or food evaluators, nor will they affect inspectors.
The CDC will also see a reduction of 2,400 employees in the upcoming budget cuts. According to the statement, this branch based in Atlanta will redirect its focus towards combating outbreaks.
The CDC operates with a budget of $9 billion and is responsible for issuing vaccine guidelines along with efforts aimed at preventing widespread conditions such as diabetes and obesity. Additionally, they monitor instances of opioid overdose and combat outbreaks of contagious diseases—including the ongoing national measles outbreak.
Following the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak, the CDC faced significant backlash for mandating vaccines, despite having only emergency authorization and lacking full FDA approval.
Many Americans — including some working for the federal government — became unemployed as they had to choose between getting vaccinated and keeping their jobs, which they ultimately declined to do.
The Health and Human Services Department plans to reduce its staff by only 300 positions across the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, asserting that this minor decrease in personnel will not affect any of the services provided.
Around 66 million individuals are part of Medicare, the healthcare coverage designed for those who are 65 years old and above. Meanwhile, the number of people relying on Medicaid stands at about 72 million; this program mainly assists low-income individuals as well as those with disabilities.
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