The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on Thursday that it will cut about 10,000 full-time jobs and close half of its regional offices.
This marks a major restructuring under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The latest reductions, combined with around 10,000 voluntary departures, will shrink the department’s workforce from 82,000 to 62,000 employees.
“We aren’t just reducing bureaucratic sprawl. We are realigning the organization with its core mission and our new priorities in reversing the chronic disease epidemic,” Kennedy stated in a department release.
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The restructuring is part of a broader effort by President Donald Trump and businessman Elon Musk, who oversees the DOGE cost-cutting initiative, to reduce the size of the federal government.
The plan includes cutting 3,500 full-time employees at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
However, the department said these cuts would not affect inspectors or those reviewing drugs, medical devices, or food products.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will see 2,400 staff cuts.
The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, an independent HHS agency with 1,000 employees, will be merged into the department.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) will lose 1,200 employees across its 27 institutes and centers.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will see a smaller reduction of about 300 positions.
“The only way to cut that high of a percentage of our staff, along with the 35% contracting cuts that are being directed, is to drastically scale back what NIH does across the board,” said Nate Brought, the former director of NIH’s Executive Secretariat who recently left the agency.
As part of the restructuring, HHS will reduce its ten regional offices to five. It will also consolidate its 28 divisions into 15, including the creation of a new ‘Administration for a Healthy America’ (AHA).
This office will merge departments focused on addiction, toxic substances, and occupational safety.
AHA will include the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
The restructuring will also centralize functions such as communications, human resources, IT, and policy planning.
These responsibilities are currently spread across multiple agencies, including the FDA, CDC, and NIH, which have traditionally operated with some independence from both HHS and the White House, despite reporting to the health secretary.
HHS confirmed that no additional job cuts are planned at this time.
(Reuters)
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