Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. advocated for the administration’s choice to eliminate 10,000 positions within the department on Thursday, assuring that vital personnel will still be part of the workforce.
“We’re not eliminating frontline staff, we’re removing managers and merging agencies to boost efficiency,” Kennedy stated during a Thursday evening segment on News Nation’s “Cuomo.”
Aside from the current layoffs, HHS aims to cut another 10,000 through retirement packages, acquisitions, and early retirements. Kennedy remarked on a video posted on platform x, “This is a difficult time for HHS.”
This initiative will reduce a quarter of the department’s workforce, mirroring similar troop reductions at the Department of Education, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and other agencies, as part of the Government Efficiency (DOGE) efforts aimed at minimizing “unnecessary” spending and reforming the workforce.
“We contain over 100 communication divisions, 40 procurement divisions, multiple IT divisions, and several HR divisions.”
“Our goal now is to simplify our agency, remove duplication, concentrate on our mission, and every individual at HHS starts their day asking, ‘What can you do today to improve America’s health?'”
Some criticize Kennedy’s leadership within the department, pointing to his lack of prior experience in the healthcare sector and his stance on vaccines.
Former HHS Executive Director Kathleen Sevelius expressed her worries regarding job reductions and the potential negative effects on public health due to cuts in funding for research grants via the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
“I have numerous concerns,” Sevelius remarked at the Health Next Summit on the hill.
“The types of reductions that have just been revealed will be catastrophic, hindering scientific progress and reversing research advancements,” she stated.
