In a sweeping move that could reshape the landscape of federal health services, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced plans to lay off approximately 10,000 employees and close dozens of agencies nationwide. The restructuring marks one of the most considerable downsizing efforts in the department’s history and has already sparked concern among workers, unions, and public health advocates. 

The agency's major rework is part of what Trump officials describe as a long-overdue modernization effort aimed at consolidating services, eliminating redundancies, and reallocating resources more efficiently. However, the scale and suddenness of the layoffs, alongside the closure of several key public health offices, have raised alarms about potential disruptions to care, especially in underserved communities. As the agency positions the move as a strategic shift, critics argue it could leave critical gaps in the nation’s healthcare safety net. 

“I want to promise you now that we’re going to do more with less,” Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a video criticizing HHS, which was posted to social media.

This is just one of the major proposed blows to the entity, which includes the withdrawal of $11 billion in public health funding for cities and counties, near silence on a measles outbreak, and statements from Trump officials that could promote vaccine hesitancy. 

Alarmingly, though, Kennedy still promises a looming “painful period” for HHS, an incredibly important national department that ultimately helps prevent deadly infectious diseases from spreading, among other oversight duties. 

The Associated Press (AP) reports that Kennedy’s team will eliminate nearly a quarter of its workforce — 10,000 jobs through layoffs and another 10,000 workers who took early retirement and voluntary separation offers made by President Trump. 

“These staff cuts endanger public health and food safety,” said Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at Consumer Reports, in a statement. “They raise serious concerns that the administration’s pledge to make Americans healthy again could become nothing more than an empty promise.”

However, Kennedy seems to be prioritizing the country's bottom line.

“All of that money,” Kennedy said of the department’s $1.7 trillion yearly budget, “has failed to improve the health of Americans.”

Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota is unclear about the consequences of these sweeping changes. 

“We’ll just wait and see what it is, and then we’ll go back and try to fix if there is something broken,” Rounds told AP. “That’s the approach we’ve taken so far.”