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By Shane Croucher
Senior Editor
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Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced on Thursday morning that his department would cut 10,000 jobs and merge sections to create a new "Administration for a Healthy America" (AHA).
The cuts will hit the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, The Wall Street Journal reported.
"We are realigning the organization with its core mission and our new priorities in reversing the chronic disease epidemic," Kennedy said in a statement.
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Why it Matters
The Trump administration is slashing federal spending, an effort led primarily by its Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which aims to tackle waste and fraud.
However, there are questions about the viability and quality of the federal government's services in the aftermath of these cuts, with the HHS being of particular concern given the number of Americans who rely on its various sections for their health.
What to Know
The HHS said these cuts are in addition to the 10,000 employees who have already opted to leave and will reduce the overall headcount from 82,000 to 62,000 full-time employees. It said it would reduce its 28 divisions to 15 and merge those into the new AHA. The number of regional offices will also be halved to five.
Kennedy said the HHS would "eliminate an entire alphabet soup of departments and agencies while preserving their core functions by merging them into a new organization," which is the AHA, and save $1.8 billion.
Separately, Reuters reported that scientists at the FDA who work on reviewing the safety and efficacy of medical devices and tobacco products are struggling to meet deadlines, with double their previous workload after recent job cuts.
...
Yesterday, federal health officials announced that they are withdrawing $11.4 billion in COVID-19-related funds from state and local public health departments and other health organizations nationwide.
"The COVID-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a nonexistent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago," the HHS said in a statement.
The statement said the CDC expects to recover the money 30 days after termination notices, which began being sent out on Monday.
Officials said the money was largely used for COVID-19 testing, vaccination, global projects, community health workers responding to COVID-19 and a program established in 2021 to address COVID health disparities among high-risk and underserved patients, including those in minority populations.
What People Are Saying
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a statement: "We have two goals. The first is obvious: To save the taxpayer money by making our department more efficient. And the second is to radically improve our quality of service. I want to promise you now that we're going to do more with less."
Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding, chair of the NECSI Department of Public Health, on X, formerly Twitter: "Welp—kiss public health & medical research infrastructure in America goodbye for the next 4 years."
What Happens Next
The HHS will now begin its restructuring, as announced by Kennedy. He has promised to do more with less. The proof either way will be found in the health outcomes for Americans and how the various agencies cope with their workloads as headcounts fall.
This article contains reporting by The Associated Press.
Update 3/27/25, 10:30 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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