Name: RFK Jr. Announces Mass Terminations, Major Restructuring at HHS
Uploaded: 2025-03-28T20:46:28.000Z
Description: Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on March 27 announced major changes at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), including the merging of some divisions, in a bid to become more efficient.

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Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on March 27 announced major changes at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), including the merging of some divisions, in a bid to become more efficient.

"We are going to streamline HHS to make our agency more efficient and more effective," Kennedy <a href="https://x.com/SecKennedy/status/1905243470366670926">said</a> in a video statement.

The other goal is improving the quality of service.

Kennedy said that in addition to consolidating divisions, mass layoffs will reduce the full-time HHS workforce by about 25 percent from 82,000 workers.

Kennedy said that the transition will be painful but that "we are going to do more with less."

The reorganization is expected to save $1.8 billion a year, health officials said.

HHS divisions include the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

HHS said in a statement that many of the divisions contain "redundant units." Officials are going to consolidate the units into 15 divisions. One new division will be called the Administration for a Healthy America and feature five former divisions, including the Health Resources and Services Administration.

The reorganization, spurred by President Donald Trump's<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/implementing-the-presidents-department-of-government-efficiency-workforce-optimization-initiative/"> order</a> to agencies to initiate mass terminations, will not affect key services, such as Medicare and Medicaid, HHS said.

HHS already fired about 3,200 probationary workers, or newer employees, according to court filings. HHS was among the agencies that were recently<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/judge-orders-trump-admin-to-reinstate-thousands-of-fired-employees-5824971"> ordered</a> to reinstate those workers.

Other workers accepted the Trump administration's buyout offer, which let workers go on paid leave until September or take early retirement, HHS said on Thursday.

About 10,000 additional employees will be terminated, according to the department. Once complete, the restructuring will leave HHS with a workforce of about 62,000.

The HHS budget increased by about 38 percent from 2021 to 2025, Kennedy said. Staffing went up by 17 percent during that time.

"But all that money has failed to improve the health of Americans," he said.

He cited the growth in the rate of chronic disease and cancer, as well as a lower life expectancy for Americans when compared to Europeans.

Kennedy said that he's found HHS is "mainly operating in silos," with some divisions working "at cross-purposes with each other."

<em>This is a developing story that will be updated. </em>

<em>From <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/health/rfk-jr-announces-mass-terminations-at-hhs-major-restructering-5832234">The Epoch Times</a></em>

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