Policy Alert: HHS Secretary Cuts 10,000 Employees

Action: On March 27, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a significant restructuring in accordance with the President's Executive Order, “Implementing the President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ Workforce Optimization Initiative.” The move will reduce the Agency’s workforce by approximately 10,000 full-time employees. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said, “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.”

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At FDA, 3,500 jobs are being eliminated, including the entire team that handles the Agency’s communications. The FDA’s top vaccine official, Dr. Peter Marks, was forced out, likely regarding his concerns with the current measles outbreak and the future direction of vaccine policy. Marks had become well known during the first Trump Administration for his work with Operation Warp Speed in the development of the first COVID-19 vaccines. In his resignation letter, Marks wrote that “[u]ndermining confidence in well-established vaccines that have met the high standards for quality, safety, and effectiveness that have been in place for decades at FDA is irresponsible, detrimental to public health, and a clear danger to our nation’s health, safety, and security.”
At least 40% of staff at the Administration for Community Living, or ACL, which coordinates Federal policy on aging and disability, received layoff notices. The agency funds programs that run senior centers and the Meals on Wheels meal distribution program.
Every staffer at the Division of Energy Assistance, which runs the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which helps 5.9 million low-income households pay for utilities, was laid off.
Approximately 2,500 workers were cut from the CDC, including the entire Lead Poisoning Prevention and Surveillance Branch in the Agency’s National Center for Environmental Health. “We no longer have lead experts,” said a person at the agency. On Thursday afternoon, when asked about these cuts, Secretary Kennedy said he would soon reinstate some programs.
Many agency staff and leaders in the field are concerned about the effect these cuts will have on the Nation’s public health, medicine, and biomedical research. "We rely on our CDC for things like tracking down disease outbreaks. We rely on NIH for research into new treatments and tests and vaccines. At this moment, whether those will continue to be effective has really been put into question,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, who served as President Biden's COVID-19 Response Coordinator.

Policy Alert: HHS Secretary Cuts 10,000 Employees

April 08, 2025

Key Insights

At FDA, 3,500 jobs are being eliminated, including the entire team that handles the Agency’s communications. The FDA’s top vaccine official, Dr. Peter Marks, was forced out, likely regarding his concerns with the current measles outbreak and the future direction of vaccine policy. Marks had become well known during the first Trump Administration for his work with Operation Warp Speed in the development of the first COVID-19 vaccines. In his resignation letter, Marks wrote that “[u]ndermining confidence in well-established vaccines that have met the high standards for quality, safety, and effectiveness that have been in place for decades at FDA is irresponsible, detrimental to public health, and a clear danger to our nation’s health, safety, and security.”

At least 40% of staff at the Administration for Community Living, or ACL, which coordinates Federal policy on aging and disability, received layoff notices. The agency funds programs that run senior centers and the Meals on Wheels meal distribution program.

Every staffer at the Division of Energy Assistance, which runs the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which helps 5.9 million low-income households pay for utilities, was laid off.

Approximately 2,500 workers were cut from the CDC, including the entire Lead Poisoning Prevention and Surveillance Branch in the Agency’s National Center for Environmental Health. “We no longer have lead experts,” said a person at the agency. On Thursday afternoon, when asked about these cuts, Secretary Kennedy said he would soon reinstate some programs.

Many agency staff and leaders in the field are concerned about the effect these cuts will have on the Nation’s public health, medicine, and biomedical research. "We rely on our CDC for things like tracking down disease outbreaks. We rely on NIH for research into new treatments and tests and vaccines. At this moment, whether those will continue to be effective has really been put into question,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, who served as President Biden's COVID-19 Response Coordinator.

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