Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Thursday a plan to cut 10,000 jobs from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a restructuring under his “Make America Healthy Again” agenda. The move will shrink the department’s workforce from 82,000 to 62,000 employees, with additional reductions coming from early retirements and buyouts facilitated by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk.
The announcement comes as the country battles its worst measles outbreak in years and growing concerns over a potential bird flu pandemic. Despite this, Kennedy has downplayed the importance of measles vaccines and suggested that avian flu should spread freely among poultry, alarming health experts.
The restructuring plan aims to save $1.8 billion annually, a fraction of HHS’s $1.8 trillion budget. It will consolidate 28 divisions into 15, including a newly created Administration for a Healthy America (AHA).
“We aren’t just reducing bureaucratic sprawl,” Kennedy said. “We are realigning the organization with its core mission and reversing the chronic disease epidemic.”
However, critics argue the cuts will weaken public health infrastructure.
“Firing over 10,000 workers at HHS will not make Americans healthier. It will make them sicker and less secure,” said Senator Bernie Sanders, vowing to fight the cuts.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will lose 3,500 jobs, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will see 2,400 layoffs. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) will cut 1,200 positions, and 300 jobs will be removed from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the move “an assault on Medicare, Medicaid, and families across America.”
While Kennedy’s focus on clean food, water, and environmental toxin reduction aligns with some public health concerns, his history of vaccine misinformation and anti-science rhetoric raises doubts.
In 2023, Kennedy suggested pausing infectious disease research for eight years and questioned whether HIV causes AIDS. More recently, he promoted Vitamin A treatments for measles over vaccination, claiming the vaccine itself causes deaths “every year.”
The ongoing measles outbreak has infected 378 people, mostly unvaccinated, and caused two deaths.
Kennedy’s controversial stance on avian flu has also drawn sharp criticism. He suggested that allowing the virus to spread would help identify and breed immune birds, but experts warn this could lead to dangerous mutations and increase risks to humans.
“He couldn’t do a worse job than he’s doing,” said pediatrician and vaccine expert Paul Offit.
Despite backlash, Kennedy remains firm on his vision for a restructured HHS, claiming it will “do more at a lower cost to taxpayers.”