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The United States Department of Health and Human Services has initiated a major restructuring plan, resulting in the layoff of approximately 10,000 workers across various health agencies, AFP reported.
The move, announced by Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. last week, is part of a broader effort to focus more on chronic disease prevention.
Employees learned of their layoffs early Tuesday morning, with some receiving dismissal notifications via email, while others found their access badges deactivated.
The layoffs affect a wide range of agencies under the HHS, including the Food and Drug Administration, Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Health.
In addition to the job cuts, several senior officials from these agencies, including Jeanne Marrazzo, who succeeded Anthony Fauci at the NIH, have been offered reassignments to remote locations in Alaska or Oklahoma.
Former FDA Commissioner Robert Califf expressed concern, stating that the agency’s leadership has been significantly weakened, with much of its institutional knowledge now lost.
“The FDA as we’ve known it is finished, with most of the leaders with institutional knowledge and a deep understanding of product development and safety no longer employed,” said Califf.
This restructuring comes amid ongoing public health challenges, including the worst measles outbreak in years and growing fears of a bird flu pandemic.
Kennedy’s stance on vaccines and infectious diseases, including his controversial remarks about avian influenza, has raised alarm among health experts.
“We aren’t just reducing bureaucratic sprawl,” said Kennedy. “We are realigning the organization with its core mission and our new priorities in reversing the chronic disease epidemic.”
The layoffs are expected to save the department around $1.8 billion annually, a small fraction of its $1.8 trillion annual budget.
Kennedy emphasized that the goal of the downsizing is not only to reduce bureaucracy but to realign the HHS with its new priorities.
The department’s 28 divisions will be consolidated into 15, with the creation of a new agency called the Administration for a Healthy America.
