The Department of Health and Human Services confirmed on Thursday that 10,000 full-time employees will soon lose their jobs, coming on top of the nearly 10,000 who have already left the agency in the last few months through buyout offers or early retirements. The agency oversees the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, among other divisions.
Amid an executive order from President Donald Trump to downsize federal agencies, the HHS announced the plans to cut 10,000 employees, stating it will undergo a “dramatic restructuring in accordance” with the executive order issued in February that federal agencies need to reduce their workforces. Other employees may be offered early retirement or deferred resignation, which the agency said will reduce its total workforce from 82,000 to 62,000 full-time employees.
HHS further stated that this personnel reduction will “save taxpayers $1.8 billion per year, and streamline the functions of the Department,” making the agency “more responsive and efficient, while ensuring that Medicare, Medicaid, and other essential health services remain intact.” The HHS also noted it will employ a new effort toward “ending America’s epidemic of chronic illness by focusing on safe, wholesome food, clean water, and the elimination of environmental toxins.”
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said in a statement on Thursday that “we aren’t just reducing bureaucratic sprawl. We are realigning the organization with its core mission and our new priorities in reversing the chronic disease epidemic. Over time, bureaucracies like HHS become wasteful and inefficient even when most of their staff are dedicated and competent civil servants. This overhaul will be a win-win for taxpayers and for those that HHS serves. That’s the entire American public, because our goal is to Make America Healthy Again.”
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