US health agencies lay off thousands at CDC, FDA and NIH

The Trump administration is laying off thousands of employees at the Department of Health and Human Services

in what it calls a sweeping restructuring of the agency in charge of public health, food safety, and medical research

The layoffs are part of a more expansive plan by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to reorganize major programs under a new office

The effort involves slashing roughly 10,000 jobs within the department through layoffs and another 10,000 employees through early retirement and

voluntary separations. The move comes after a series of executive actions by President Donald Trump

including one last week rescinding rights for federal health agency employees. The action impacts

unionized federal workers at the CDC, FDA, and other agencies. Democrats criticize the move

arguing it jeopardizes the nation's ability to monitor disease outbreaks as well as food and medical

safety including limiting money for research and insurance programs Under the job cuts the FDA will lose 3 employees the CDC 2400 the National Institutes for Health will lose 1 and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid

services will eliminate 300, according to HHS officials. Union officials say the cuts will

impact positions in human resources, finance, IT, and others. RFK Jr. recently criticized the

agency for having a sprawling bureaucracy, while failing to improve. of Americans' health and promise to do more with less

During the Biden administration, HHS's budget increased by 38 percent, and its staffing increased

by 17 percent, but all that money has failed to improve the health of Americans

I want to promise you now that we're going to do more with less

No American is going to be left behind. The Trump administration contends the cuts are needed to improve efficiency and argue the current

size of the department has not improved health outcomes. outcomes. For more on this story, download the Straight Arrow News app or go to sAN.com