HHS Announces Major Overhaul: 10,000 Job Cuts and Department Restructuring

In partnership with

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced a significant reorganization, which includes laying off 10,000 employees. This restructuring aims to streamline the department by reducing its divisions from 28 to 15 and closing five regional offices.

This move is part of broader efforts to cut costs and make the government more efficient. Since the Trump administration took office, approximately 10,000 employees have already left HHS, either through voluntary buyouts or dismissals. At the time, the department employed around 82,000 individuals.

Receive Honest News Today

Join over 4 million Americans who start their day with 1440 – your daily digest for unbiased, fact-centric news. From politics to sports, we cover it all by analyzing over 100 sources. Our concise, 5-minute read lands in your inbox each morning at no cost. Experience news without the noise; let 1440 help you make up your own mind. Sign up now and invite your friends and family to be part of the informed.

Sign up today!

The aim of the current reorganization is to centralize key functions, such as policy planning, communications, and human resources, according to administration officials. This restructuring is in line with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative, a government-wide cost-cutting measure led by billionaire Elon Musk, aimed at reducing the size of the federal workforce and freezing funds in an effort to improve efficiency.

However, critics argue that these reductions have already hurt public health efforts. Programs addressing maternal health, long COVID, and biomedical research have faced setbacks, with disease monitoring and fraud oversight also weakened as a result.

The most affected agencies within HHS include:

• The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which will lose around 3,500 positions. However, the cuts will not affect the safety inspectors.

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which will shed 2,400 jobs, aiming to refocus on epidemic and outbreak responses.

• The National Institutes of Health (NIH), which will lose 1,200 employees.

• The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which will cut roughly 300 jobs.

Together, these cuts are projected to save about $1.8 billion annually.

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. emphasized that the reorganization is not only about cutting down on bureaucracy but also about aligning the department more closely with his new focus on holistic health. This includes the creation of a new agency, the Administration for a Healthy America (AHA), which will consolidate HHS programs related to primary care, maternal health, and environmental health.

Additionally, HHS will be merging several departments. The Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation will now be integrated with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Programs focused on strategic preparedness will be moved to the CDC, and other programs aimed at older adults and people with disabilities will be consolidated into existing agencies like CMS.

While the department reassures that Medicare and Medicaid services will not be affected by the changes, the long-term impact of these cuts remains uncertain. For now, no further cuts are planned.

This restructuring follows a pattern of significant workforce reductions across the federal government, though official figures on the total number of federal employees impacted by these changes remain unclear. Prior to the DOGE initiative, the federal workforce consisted of about 2.4 million civilian employees.