Overall, the department will downsize to 62,000 positions, losing nearly a quarter of its staff — 10,000 jobs through layoffs and another 10,000 workers who took early retirement and voluntary separation offers encouraged by President Donald Trump’s administration.
Kennedy, in announcing the restructuring, blasted HHS for failing to improve Americans’ lifespans and not doing enough to drive down chronic disease and cancer rates.
“All of that money,” Kennedy said of the department's $1.7 trillion yearly budget, “has failed to improve the health of Americans.”
The reorganization plan also underscores Kennedy's push to take more control of the public health agencies — the NIH, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — which have traditionally operated with a level of autonomy from the health secretary. Under the plan, external communications, procurement, information technology and human resources will be centralized under HHS.
HHS on Thursday provided a breakdown of some of the cuts:
- 3,500 jobs at the FDA, which inspects and sets safety standards for medications, medical devices and foods.
- 2,400 jobs at the CDC, which monitors for infectious disease outbreaks and works with public health agencies nationwide.
- 1,200 jobs at the NIH, the world’s leading public health research arm.
- 300 jobs at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees the Affordable Care Act marketplace, Medicare and Medicaid.
HHS said it anticipates the changes will save $1.8 billion per year.
