RFK Jr.'s extensive reductions shock staff, causing senior employees to scramble
The layoffs created a significant impact across the department's extensive workforce, leading senior agency officials to urgently assess which employees and policy priorities were impacted.
TroibNews 
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s decision to significantly cut and reorganize the federal health department has astonished many within the agency responsible for implementing these changes, causing widespread concern about potential risks to the safety of the nation’s drug supply and disease response efforts.
The disaster preparedness agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has just two days to devise a plan to integrate itself into the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), according to an HHS official who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to fear of retaliation.
Employees responsible for regulating prescription drugs, overseeing public health programs, and conducting scientific research were left in the dark about these cuts, with many learning the specifics from a Wall Street Journal article that was published early Thursday, as multiple sources reported.
“There’s very few people who actually know what’s happening,” commented one health official, who also requested anonymity to discuss internal reactions.
Additionally, House Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie revealed that he discovered the cuts through news reports. Senator Bill Cassidy, who chairs the committee overseeing the health department, was informed by Kennedy during breakfast on Thursday just moments prior to the news breaking.
The swift and secretive announcement made on Thursday outlined plans to eliminate 10,000 jobs, dismantle several departments, and shut down regional offices, highlighting Kennedy's intention to impose a focused vision on a department he has criticized as a bloated bureaucracy.
“We’re going to eliminate an entire alphabet soup of departments and agencies while preserving their core functions,” Kennedy stated in a six-minute video he posted to X on Thursday, explaining the cuts.
The latest round of cuts follows the departure of approximately 10,000 employees in recent months and has sent shockwaves through the vast workforce of the department, prompting senior agency officials to hurriedly assess which employees and policy initiatives would be impacted. Around one-quarter of the department's 82,000 employees have either left or are expected to be terminated.
Some within the health department voiced concerns that the cuts, such as merging the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response with the CDC, could lead to greater long-term costs for the government.
"There's this narrative being spun that somehow by eliminating jobs and functions that taxpayer dollars are going to be saved or that programs will be more efficient,” remarked a staffer from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, who spoke anonymously to avoid retaliation. “The reality is the exact opposite."
Despite assurances from Trump administration officials that essential services would remain unaffected, the magnitude of the cuts has instilled fear throughout the health sector, with many insiders convinced that critical functions would inevitably suffer.
"I wouldn't trust not one FDA-approved drug after they are done with us," claimed an anonymous employee from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), who expressed concerns about the impact of the cuts.
According to a letter from Thomas Nagy, the assistant secretary for human resources, the cuts are scheduled to take effect by the end of May and will primarily target administrative roles in human resources, information technology, procurement, and finance, as well as areas deemed "redundant or duplicative" within HHS or the federal government, as detailed in a letter obtained by PMG.
However, some roles that may appear duplicative could be challenging to integrate into other agencies, according to the CMS employee. The staffer pointed out that while the administration aims to centralize all IT contracts in the General Services Administration, many agencies have specific small contracts that are tailored to their individual needs and would not be sensible to centralize.
A former official from Trump’s HHS noted that while aspects of the reorganization, such as eliminating regional offices, seemed logical, many other decisions appeared to be made by consultants without sufficient historical understanding.
"Let’s face it, these guys just have no idea what they’re doing," stated a pharmaceutical lobbyist who spoke anonymously about the implications of the FDA layoffs. "They are comfortable with the 'fire everyone and try to re-hire them if needed' approach. They already had to once with devices."
Sara Brenner, the acting FDA commissioner, endorsed the reorganization in an internal email to all staff, while an HHS fact sheet maintained that the cuts would not affect FDA drug and medical device reviewers or inspectors.
"I firmly believe the changes for FDA, as outlined by Secretary Kennedy, will position the agency for the future and empower us to maximally deliver on our regulatory mission,” she expressed in the email viewed by PMG.
On Capitol Hill, while many Republicans supported the cuts, some were taken aback by the scale of the reductions.
“The president said we need to use a scalpel not a hatchet,” stated Senator Thom Tillis. “I assume that whoever suggested these cuts are heeding his advice."
Senator John Hoeven, the leading Senate appropriator overseeing FDA funding, admitted he had not reviewed the specific details of the layoffs.
"I get that we want to find savings and I support trying to cut waste, fraud and abuse, but we still have to look at it carefully and make sure that we have what we need to get the job done," Hoeven remarked.
Democrats quickly criticized the cuts, warning that they would have "devastating consequences" amid outbreaks of bird flu and measles.
“These massive layoffs will have a devastating impact on our nation’s health care system and the health of the American people,” asserted House Energy and Commerce ranking member Frank Pallone and health subcommittee ranking member Diana DeGette, who called for an immediate hearing on the HHS cuts.
Dawn O'Connell, who previously led HHS's preparedness and response agency during the Biden administration, condemned Kennedy’s strategy to merge it with the CDC, cautioning that it would impair the government’s ability to address a variety of crises.
"If the secretary is interested in keeping America healthy, he's got to have an organization that's looking around corners for whatever's coming next," O'Connell said in an interview. "I can tell you from my four years, everything is coming next."
She noted that the agency had one of the smallest budgets within HHS, indicating that eliminating it as an independent office would have minimal financial implications. O'Connell argued that the decision to eliminate it would leave the U.S. more exposed to threats it typically mitigated, such as cyberattacks and natural disasters.
"If the goal of this is efficiency, it's hard to see where you get more efficient than a standalone ASPR," she added. "To treat them in this way doesn't seem particularly wise."
The reorganization is the result of weeks of covert efforts by Trump health officials and members of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, aiming to significantly downsize HHS and enforce tighter political control over its agenda.
According to sources familiar with the reshaping process, Trump aides have long deemed the health bureaucracy unwieldy, independent, and challenging to manage, with some harboring grievances based on a belief that career public health officials undermined Trump's handling of the Covid pandemic and cost him reelection.
Kennedy and his team have recently viewed large portions of the HHS workforce as superfluous, contending that the department's public health agencies had become overly focused on infectious diseases rather than chronic disease management, thereby concentrating too much authority within centers led by career officials.
As a longtime anti-vaccine activist, Kennedy has spent years criticizing the HHS and casting doubt on its efforts regarding vaccines and medication. In the lead-up to Trump nominating him to lead HHS, Kennedy pledged to overhaul the FDA, declaring on X that agency employees should "pack your bags." He also threatened to fire 600 personnel at the National Institutes of Health on his first day; the anticipated cuts unveiled on Thursday would represent approximately double that figure.
Trump officials have sought to diminish the influence of career leaders by executing mass firings of probationary employees, which often included individuals recently elevated to senior positions. A judge placed a hold on those dismissals, yet their future remains uncertain as the administration pursues an appeal. Additionally, Trump health officials have targeted specific employees, even removing several top officials at the NIH.
"They've got their reorganization, but we'll have more conversations, let me just put it that way," Cassidy remarked.
Alejandro Jose Martinez for TROIB News
The disaster preparedness agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has just two days to devise a plan to integrate itself into the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), according to an HHS official who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to fear of retaliation.
Employees responsible for regulating prescription drugs, overseeing public health programs, and conducting scientific research were left in the dark about these cuts, with many learning the specifics from a Wall Street Journal article that was published early Thursday, as multiple sources reported.
“There’s very few people who actually know what’s happening,” commented one health official, who also requested anonymity to discuss internal reactions.
Additionally, House Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie revealed that he discovered the cuts through news reports. Senator Bill Cassidy, who chairs the committee overseeing the health department, was informed by Kennedy during breakfast on Thursday just moments prior to the news breaking.
The swift and secretive announcement made on Thursday outlined plans to eliminate 10,000 jobs, dismantle several departments, and shut down regional offices, highlighting Kennedy's intention to impose a focused vision on a department he has criticized as a bloated bureaucracy.
“We’re going to eliminate an entire alphabet soup of departments and agencies while preserving their core functions,” Kennedy stated in a six-minute video he posted to X on Thursday, explaining the cuts.
The latest round of cuts follows the departure of approximately 10,000 employees in recent months and has sent shockwaves through the vast workforce of the department, prompting senior agency officials to hurriedly assess which employees and policy initiatives would be impacted. Around one-quarter of the department's 82,000 employees have either left or are expected to be terminated.
Some within the health department voiced concerns that the cuts, such as merging the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response with the CDC, could lead to greater long-term costs for the government.
"There's this narrative being spun that somehow by eliminating jobs and functions that taxpayer dollars are going to be saved or that programs will be more efficient,” remarked a staffer from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, who spoke anonymously to avoid retaliation. “The reality is the exact opposite."
Despite assurances from Trump administration officials that essential services would remain unaffected, the magnitude of the cuts has instilled fear throughout the health sector, with many insiders convinced that critical functions would inevitably suffer.
"I wouldn't trust not one FDA-approved drug after they are done with us," claimed an anonymous employee from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), who expressed concerns about the impact of the cuts.
According to a letter from Thomas Nagy, the assistant secretary for human resources, the cuts are scheduled to take effect by the end of May and will primarily target administrative roles in human resources, information technology, procurement, and finance, as well as areas deemed "redundant or duplicative" within HHS or the federal government, as detailed in a letter obtained by PMG.
However, some roles that may appear duplicative could be challenging to integrate into other agencies, according to the CMS employee. The staffer pointed out that while the administration aims to centralize all IT contracts in the General Services Administration, many agencies have specific small contracts that are tailored to their individual needs and would not be sensible to centralize.
A former official from Trump’s HHS noted that while aspects of the reorganization, such as eliminating regional offices, seemed logical, many other decisions appeared to be made by consultants without sufficient historical understanding.
"Let’s face it, these guys just have no idea what they’re doing," stated a pharmaceutical lobbyist who spoke anonymously about the implications of the FDA layoffs. "They are comfortable with the 'fire everyone and try to re-hire them if needed' approach. They already had to once with devices."
Sara Brenner, the acting FDA commissioner, endorsed the reorganization in an internal email to all staff, while an HHS fact sheet maintained that the cuts would not affect FDA drug and medical device reviewers or inspectors.
"I firmly believe the changes for FDA, as outlined by Secretary Kennedy, will position the agency for the future and empower us to maximally deliver on our regulatory mission,” she expressed in the email viewed by PMG.
On Capitol Hill, while many Republicans supported the cuts, some were taken aback by the scale of the reductions.
“The president said we need to use a scalpel not a hatchet,” stated Senator Thom Tillis. “I assume that whoever suggested these cuts are heeding his advice."
Senator John Hoeven, the leading Senate appropriator overseeing FDA funding, admitted he had not reviewed the specific details of the layoffs.
"I get that we want to find savings and I support trying to cut waste, fraud and abuse, but we still have to look at it carefully and make sure that we have what we need to get the job done," Hoeven remarked.
Democrats quickly criticized the cuts, warning that they would have "devastating consequences" amid outbreaks of bird flu and measles.
“These massive layoffs will have a devastating impact on our nation’s health care system and the health of the American people,” asserted House Energy and Commerce ranking member Frank Pallone and health subcommittee ranking member Diana DeGette, who called for an immediate hearing on the HHS cuts.
Dawn O'Connell, who previously led HHS's preparedness and response agency during the Biden administration, condemned Kennedy’s strategy to merge it with the CDC, cautioning that it would impair the government’s ability to address a variety of crises.
"If the secretary is interested in keeping America healthy, he's got to have an organization that's looking around corners for whatever's coming next," O'Connell said in an interview. "I can tell you from my four years, everything is coming next."
She noted that the agency had one of the smallest budgets within HHS, indicating that eliminating it as an independent office would have minimal financial implications. O'Connell argued that the decision to eliminate it would leave the U.S. more exposed to threats it typically mitigated, such as cyberattacks and natural disasters.
"If the goal of this is efficiency, it's hard to see where you get more efficient than a standalone ASPR," she added. "To treat them in this way doesn't seem particularly wise."
The reorganization is the result of weeks of covert efforts by Trump health officials and members of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, aiming to significantly downsize HHS and enforce tighter political control over its agenda.
According to sources familiar with the reshaping process, Trump aides have long deemed the health bureaucracy unwieldy, independent, and challenging to manage, with some harboring grievances based on a belief that career public health officials undermined Trump's handling of the Covid pandemic and cost him reelection.
Kennedy and his team have recently viewed large portions of the HHS workforce as superfluous, contending that the department's public health agencies had become overly focused on infectious diseases rather than chronic disease management, thereby concentrating too much authority within centers led by career officials.
As a longtime anti-vaccine activist, Kennedy has spent years criticizing the HHS and casting doubt on its efforts regarding vaccines and medication. In the lead-up to Trump nominating him to lead HHS, Kennedy pledged to overhaul the FDA, declaring on X that agency employees should "pack your bags." He also threatened to fire 600 personnel at the National Institutes of Health on his first day; the anticipated cuts unveiled on Thursday would represent approximately double that figure.
Trump officials have sought to diminish the influence of career leaders by executing mass firings of probationary employees, which often included individuals recently elevated to senior positions. A judge placed a hold on those dismissals, yet their future remains uncertain as the administration pursues an appeal. Additionally, Trump health officials have targeted specific employees, even removing several top officials at the NIH.
"They've got their reorganization, but we'll have more conversations, let me just put it that way," Cassidy remarked.
Alejandro Jose Martinez for TROIB News
