The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will lay off 10,000 workers and shut down entire agencies, including ones that oversee billions of dollars in funds for addiction services and community health centres across the United States.
HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr (RFK) criticised the department he oversees as an inefficient “sprawling bureaucracy” in a video announcing the restructuring on Thursday. He faulted the department’s 82,000 workers for a decline in Americans’ health.
“I want to promise you now that we’re going to do more with less,” Kennedy said in the video, posted to social media.
The restructuring plan caps weeks of tumult at the nation’s top health department, which has been embroiled in rumours of mass firings, the revocation of $11bn in public health funding for cities and counties, a tepid response to a measles outbreak, and controversial remarks about vaccines from its new leader.
Still, Kennedy said a “painful period” lies ahead for HHS, which is responsible for monitoring infectious diseases, inspecting foods and hospitals and overseeing health insurance programmes for nearly half the country.
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 through workers taking early retirement and voluntary separation offers encouraged by US President Donald Trump’s administration.
Public health experts, doctors, current and former HHS workers and congressional Democrats quickly panned Kennedy’s plans, warning they could have untold consequences for millions of people across the country.
“These staff cuts endanger public health and food safety,” said Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at Consumer Reports, in a statement. “They raise serious concerns that the administration’s pledge to make Americans healthy again could become nothing more than an empty promise.”
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