Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Thursday his department is planning to reduce its workforce by 10,000 people through restructuring as part of the Trump administration’s aim to cut costs.
HHS said the restructuring was part of President Trump’s executive order “Implementing the President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ Workforce Optimization Initiative.” While the effort will seek to cut 10,000 jobs, HHS will apparently seek to double this workforce reduction through other means.
“The restructuring will address this and serve multiple goals without impacting critical services. First, it will save taxpayers $1.8 billion per year through a reduction in workforce of about 10,000 full-time employees who are part of this most recent transformation,” the department said in a press release. “When combined with HHS’ other efforts, including early retirement and Fork in the Road, the restructuring results in a total downsizing from 82,000 to 62,000 full-time employees.”
“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 in a statement. “This Department will do more — a lot more — at a lower cost to the taxpayer.”
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