Fulfilling President Trump’s promise to drain the Washington swamp, RFK Jr. is taking a chainsaw to the bloated federal health bureaucracy, slashing 10,000 jobs across the Health and Human Services Department.
The dramatic cuts will save American taxpayers $1.8 billion annually while streamlining agencies long accused of corporate capture and inefficiency.
The workforce reduction announced today represents a quarter of HHS employees, on top of 10,000 employees who have already departed since Trump took office.
The $1.7 trillion agency oversees everything from vaccines and medicines to public health infrastructure and pandemic preparedness.
Kennedy is not just trimming the fat—he is completely reshaping how government approaches health.
His “Make America Healthy Again” initiative prioritizes nutritious food over pharmaceutical drugs and aims to end what he calls the “chronic disease epidemic” plaguing Americans.
The cuts will affect multiple divisions, including 3,500 employees from the FDA, 2,400 from the CDC, 1,200 from the NIH, and 300 from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. As part of the overhaul, HHS will also close five of its ten regional offices.
“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,” Kennedy stated.
A significant consolidation is underway, with Kennedy reducing 28 divisions into just 15 new ones.
Among the changes, a newly created Administration for a Healthy America will combine offices addressing addiction, mental health, and occupational safety. The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response will move under the CDC’s control.
The restructuring centralizes core functions such as external affairs, human resources, and IT services.
Despite the workforce reduction, Kennedy has assured Americans that the changes will not affect essential health services.
The department maintains that the moves will improve the coordination of health resources for low-income Americans.
“This overhaul will improve the health of the entire nation — to Make America Healthy Again,” he affirmed.
Moreover, Kennedy has been vocal about ending what he calls “corporate corruption” at federal health agencies, which many conservatives have long suspected was rampant during previous administrations.
He has pledged to review the childhood vaccination schedule and focus on safe food, clean water, and eliminating environmental toxins rather than pharmaceutical interventions.
The timing of the restructuring has raised eyebrows among critics, occurring during a measles outbreak and bird flu spread.
Yet, supporters see it as exactly the right moment to reform agencies that failed Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic with conflicting guidance and questionable decisions.
Ultimately, the moves align perfectly with the Trump administration’s broader efforts to reduce the size of government while improving its effectiveness.
With these decisive actions, Kennedy is delivering on promises to put Americans first by cutting waste and refocusing health agencies on their core missions rather than serving special interests.
