Washington, D.C. – In order to decrease bloat and increase efficiency, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. intends to inform Congress that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must make staff and budget cuts.
A copy of Kennedy’s opening speech said, “These reforms will allow us to move more nimbly and focus on the fundamental objective of improving the nation’s health.” Kennedy is scheduled to address the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee on May 14. Kennedy is making good on the promises he made.
In fiscal year 2026, HHS offices and programs would get $32 million less if Congress approves President Donald Trump’s budget without making any changes. Additionally, $500 million is allocated to the Make America Healthy Again initiative.
A new Senate Health Committee minority report released on May 13 reveals that the majority of federal health employees terminated this spring were from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The report details that 2,519 FDA employees and 2,473 CDC employees were let go as part of a significant reduction in force announced by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The layoffs, part of a broader restructuring to streamline the HHS, also saw 1,312 employees from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and 2,117 from other HHS divisions, including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), lose their jobs. “These cuts to agency experts and programs leave our country less safe, less prepared, and without the necessary talent and resources to respond to health threats,” said Dr. Mandy Cohen, former CDC director during the Biden administration, in a statement to CNN.
The report further notes that over 700 NIH grants, totaling $815 million, were terminated, including significant funding for a cancer center at Columbia University and a consortium for vaccine clinical trials. “The loss of expertise is immeasurable,” said Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), ranking member of the Senate Health Committee, who released the report. “These cuts risk undermining our ability to respond to public health crises and advance medical research.”
Kennedy, who announced in March that HHS would overhaul its operations by cutting 10,000 jobs and consolidating 28 divisions into 15, later acknowledged that some terminations were errors. “We’ve identified mistakes in the process, and we’re working to reinstate an unspecified number of employees who were incorrectly let go,” he said in early April, as reported by ABC News. However, HHS has not provided a detailed breakdown of terminations by division, prompting criticism for lack of transparency.
Former FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf expressed dismay on LinkedIn, stating, “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.” The cuts at the FDA targeted staff in the Office of New Drugs, the Office of Policy & International Engagement, and the entire press office, according to CNN.
Public health advocates have raised alarms about the potential consequences. “They may as well be renaming it the Department of Disease because their plan is putting lives in serious jeopardy,” said Democratic Senator Patty Murray of Washington in a statement to PBS News. The layoffs, which began on April 1, have sparked protests, with former CDC employees gathering outside the agency’s Atlanta headquarters to voice their concerns.
HHS’s restructuring aims to focus on chronic disease prevention, but critics argue the cuts disproportionately affect critical public health functions. “When you see the elimination of the Office of Smoking and Health, when smoking is the leading preventable cause of chronic disease, you have to ask, ‘What are they thinking?’” said Dr. Richard Besser, CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and former acting CDC director.
Kennedy will testify before Congress for the first time since he was sworn in as health secretary. This marks the end of a journey that saw the former Democrat abandon the party to run as an independent for president, withdraw from the 2024 election to support Trump, and take over HHS, which has traditionally had the largest budget of any federal agency, from leading the nonprofit Children’s Health Defense.
