This is a new organization that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. aims to create, consolidating the functions of many federal health organizations and cutting significant staff. The Guardian reports:
Robert F Kennedy Jr said the nation’s health agencies will cut 10,000 jobs from their 82,000-person workforce – an enormous reduction the US health secretary characterized as streamlining federal bureaucracy amid internal resistance to the administration’s agenda.
The cuts announced on Thursday, along with previous restructuring and voluntary buy-outs, mean the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will lose roughly 20,000 workers.
Kennedy said the department will also close half of its regional offices and create a new agency called the “administration for a healthy America”, or AHA.
Where are the cuts coming from? The Wall Street Journal (via the Advisory Board) reports that these cuts include:
- 3,500 full-time employees from FDA (around 19% of its workforce)
- 2,400 employees from CDC (around 18% of its workforce)
- 1,200 employees from NIH (around 6% of its workforce)
- 300 employees from CMS (around 4% of its workforce)
Job cuts will not affect FDA’s inspectors or drug, medical device, or food reviewers.
The Administration for a Healthy America will combine the following agencies into one entity:
- 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
- The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
HHS released a fact sheet with more details.