Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who serves as the Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Donald Trump, announced substantial workforce reductions on Thursday, March 27. Approximately 10,000 employees within Kennedy’s department will be laid off, with additional vacancies left unfilled. The plan aims to decrease the full-time workforce from 82,000 to 62,000 employees.
Kennedy acknowledged the challenging period ahead for the Department of Health and Human Services in a video statement, citing the ongoing downsizing of the federal workforce. Despite the cuts, he expressed appreciation for the collaboration with Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency, emphasizing efforts to eliminate redundancies and streamline operations to ultimately improve the nation’s health.
As part of the restructuring, the Food and Drug Administration will reduce its workforce by 3,500 employees, with assurances that essential roles like drug and food reviewers will remain unaffected. Similarly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will see a reduction of approximately 2,400 employees, raising concerns about pandemic preparedness following recent health crises like COVID-19 and the spread of H5N1 bird flu in poultry.
Critics question the impact of such cuts on public health readiness and the ability to respond effectively to future health emergencies. With the formation of a new Administration for a Healthy America through the consolidation of various health entities, the department aims to enhance coordination of chronic care and disease prevention programs, particularly for low-income Americans.
On January 20, 2025, a CDC study highlighted the mental health crisis among health care workers. The Trump administration made significant health-related changes in its first two months. Shortly after taking office, President Trump, aged 78, issued an executive order pulling the U.S. out of the World Health Organization (WHO), which is a coalition of 194 countries addressing global health issues. Experts raised concerns that this move could leave Americans vulnerable to diseases like bird flu and Marburg, and hinder the agency’s ability to respond to new threats. Lawrence Gostin, a professor of global health law at Georgetown University, described the decision as catastrophic, warning of its negative impact on global health and the U.S. healthcare system. This information was originally reported by People.
