HHS Layoffs: Sweeping Restructuring to Eliminate 10,000 Jobs, Including 3,500 at FDA

As part of continuing upheavals in federal health policy, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced it will eliminate approximately 10,000 positions.

The plans are part of a major restructuring plan under newly appointed Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK Jr.).

The restructuring is part of a broader initiative to “streamline the functions of the department” and reduce “bureaucratic redundancy.” The HHS statement also said the plan will help “restore public trust in federal health institutions.”

At the same time, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to give himself authority to end collective bargaining across federal unions.

The proposed HHS layoffs will affect a range of agencies within HHS, including the CDC, FDA and NIH.

They will hit the FDA the hardest, with 3,500 planned job cuts. The HHS said the FDA cuts will not affect drug, medical device or food reviewers or agency inspectors.

The CDC will slash 2,400 employees and the NIH will let go 1,200 workers.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will have about 300 dismissals. The HHS said it would ensure Medicare, Medicaid and other essential health services will remain “intact.”

Related: Healthcare Layoffs 2025: A Roundup

“This is not about dismantling public health — it’s about rebuilding it from the ground up with transparency, accountability and efficiency,” RFK Jr. said at a press briefing on Tuesday.

“For too long, these agencies have been bloated, opaque and unresponsive to the American people.”

According to the announcement, the HHS layoffs plan will “save taxpayers $1.8 billion per year through a reduction in workforce of about 10,000 full-time employees who are part of this most recent transformation.”

Together with early retirement and the ‘Fork in the Road’ initiative, the restructuring will cut HHS’s workforce from 82,000 to 62,000 full-time employees.

The agency-level restructurings align with a wave of cost-cutting measures led by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), under the direction of billionaire Elon Musk.

At Trump’s request, DOGE has aimed to streamline the federal government by closing offices, implementing staff layoffs and freezing billions in funding, including for scientific research.

Earlier this year, many probationary employees — including at HHS agencies — were dismissed. However, court rulings in mid-March deemed the firings unlawful. As a result, some were subsequently rehired or placed on paid administrative leave.

According to a recent court filing, HHS sent out 3,248 termination notices to probationary employees.

In March, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) that directed the firings, revised its original February 27 memo. It now states that “OPM is not directing agencies to take any specific performance-based actions regarding probationary employees.”

It also added that, “Agencies have the ultimate decision-making authority over, and responsibility for, such personnel actions.”

Restructuring and Streamlining the HHS

In an online video post, RFK Jr. said good employees are bogged down by a “sprawling bureaucracy.” He said the HHS budget grew by 38% during the Biden administration.

However, actual spending under federal budget legislation signed by Biden increased by only 10%.

“We are streamlining HHS to make our agency more efficient and more effective. We will eliminate an entire alphabet soup of departments, while preserving their core functions by merging them into a new organization called the Administration for a Healthy America or AHA. This overhaul will improve the health of the entire nation — to Make America Healthy Again,” he said in the post.

RFK Jr. noted that HHS has over 100 communications offices, 40 IT departments and nine HR divisions. “In many cases they don’t even talk to each other,” and are “mainly operating in silos,” he said

Initial reports suggest that administrative and regulatory positions will bear the brunt of the downsizing.

The restructuring will also include the consolidation of overlapping agencies and the reassessment of certain programs and initiatives.

The plan will reduce the current 28 divisions within the HHS to 15 newly formed ones. This will include establishing a new Administration for a Healthy America (AHA). Core functions such as Human Resources, Information Technology, Procurement, External Affairs and Policy will also be centralized.

The plan will also reduce the number of regional offices from ten to five.

The CDC will get control of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR). The agency handled natural disasters and other public health threats.

AHA will merge the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

“This centralization will improve coordination of health resources for low-income Americans and will focus on areas including, primary care, maternal and child health, mental health, environmental health, HIV/AIDS and workforce development,” said HHS.

The agency also said the overhaul will “implement the new HHS priority of ending America’s epidemic of chronic illness by focusing on safe, wholesome food, clean water and the elimination of environmental toxins.”

Reactions to HHS Layoffs

The announcement has sparked a wave of reactions from across the political and public health spectrum.

Supporters argue that the plan will reduce government overreach and inefficiencies. Critics fear such deep cuts could weaken the country’s public health infrastructure, particularly in the face of ongoing global health challenges.

Senator Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, and former HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra blasted the cuts.

“American families are going to be hurt by layoffs and closures of this magnitude, full stop,” Wyden said. “These offices work closely with communities to make sure child care, hospitals and nursing homes are safe, strengthen rural health care and much more. The chaos that is coming will guarantee that kids and seniors fall through the cracks with deadly consequences.”

“It’s hard to make sense of the HHS cuts announced this morning,” said Becerra. “This has the makings of a manmade disaster.”

Public health officials both in the US and around the world are saying the cuts will impact public health globally.

In a virtual appearance at the Canadian Medical Association Health Summit in Ottawa recently, Dr. Tom Frieden, a former CDC director, warned that RFK Jr.’s “chaotic” cuts to public health could bring more infectious diseases to Canada.

Public sector unions have also pushed back. They are warning of potential disruptions to services and job security for thousands of federal employees.

RFK Jr., known for his controversial stances on vaccines and government health mandates, has made reforming HHS a cornerstone of his tenure.