Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. today announced plans to cut an additional 10,000 federal health jobs among the 82,000 employees who currently work at HHS. With these cuts and previous layoffs, the agency will have roughly 62,000 employees.

HHS has 28 divisions, which will be consolidated to 15 divisions under the restructuring. Kennedy said the restructuring was an effort to limit the bureaucracy that was hindering Americans’ health. Regional offices will also be reduced, from 10 to 5.

Notably, the Food and Drug Administration will see 3,500 jobs cut, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will lose 2,400 staff, the National Institutes of Health will see 1,200 jobs cut, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is expected to lose 300 employees. HHS said the reorganization will not diminish Medicare and Medicaid services.

Kennedy claims cuts will save $2 billion a year

“HHS has more than 100 communication offices and more than 40 IT [information technology] departments,” Kennedy said in a video message explaining the cuts. “In many cases they don’t even talk to each other.”

Throughout the 6-minute video, Kennedy said HHS is full of “fiefdoms” with infighting and misplaced contributing to a decline in public health as more Americans suffer from chronic diseases.

We are going to eliminate an entire alphabet soup of departments and agencies, while preserving their core functions by merging them into a new organization called the Administration for a Health America.

“As part of President Trump’s DOGE [Department of Government Efficiency] workforce reduction initiate, we are going to streamline HHS to make our agency more efficient and more effective,” Kennedy said. “We are going to eliminate an entire alphabet soup of departments and agencies, while preserving their core functions by merging them into a new organization called the Administration for a Health America, or AHA.”

Though Kennedy acknowledged this will likely be a “painful period,” he promised the cuts would be aimed at administrators, and AHA would increase the number of scientists and frontline health providers. He said the cuts will help save tax payers nearly $2 billion per year, and will help HHS become the envy of the world.

ASPR to move to CDC

Contained within AHA will be the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), responsible for national disaster and public health emergency response, will move to the CDC.

Within hours of the announcement, Democratic Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York said the cuts will likely be challenged in court, and many could be illegal. 

The HHS plan comes just 1 day after President Donald Trump canceled $11.4 billion in grants allocated to state health departments during the COVID-19 pandemic.