Kennedy said he was reorienting the health department to battle chronic illness.
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- The restructuring will cut the HHS headcount from 82,000 to 62,000 employees.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Thursday he will significantly cut the size of the department he leads, reducing about 10,000 full-time jobs and closing half its regional offices.
The restructuring, along with previous voluntary departures, will result in a total downsizing to 62,000 full-time employees from 82,000.
“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 said.
President Donald Trump and billionaire ally Elon Musk, who oversees the Department of Government Efficiency, have been gutting agencies as part of an effort to shrink the federal bureaucracy.
As part of the restructuring, 28 units of the HHS will be consolidated into 15 new divisions, including a new ‘Administration for a Healthy America’, or AHA.
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AHA will combine offices in HHS that address addiction, toxic substances and occupational safety, among others, into one central office, the agency said.
The new units will also centralize functions such as external affairs, human resources and IT.