Kennedy. Photo illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios. Photos: Mario Tama, Michael M. Santiago, Anna Moneymaker via Getty Images.
Chairs of key congressional committees that oversee HHS said Thursday that they were not briefed ahead of time on the major layoffs and reorganization of the department and still were gathering details.
Why it matters: Although HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. billed the closely guarded effort as streamlining and increasing efficiency, there may be wide-ranging effects at agencies including the FDA, which could lose 3,500 employees, and the CDC, which could lose 2,400.
- Combined with early retirement offers, the moves are expected to reduce the health department from 82,000 to 62,000 full-time employees.
What they're saying: "I haven't seen it yet," House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole said of the layoff and restructuring plan, adding "I'm sure I'll have thoughts on it" once he reviews it.
- "I just heard they were going to make an announcement this morning around 9, but I've not seen any of the details," said Rep. Robert Aderholt, who chairs the Appropriations Labor-HHS subcommittee.
- Aderholt said he wants to see how the cuts affect various agencies, adding that his understanding was that NIH would not really be affected.
- House Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie likewise told Stat he was not briefed ahead of time.
Senate Finance Ranking Member Ron Wyden assailed the cuts, saying they would affect offices that work to ensure that child care, hospitals, and nursing homes are safe and that strengthen rural health care.
- "The chaos that is coming will guarantee that kids and seniors fall through the cracks with deadly consequences," he said.
- Speaker Mike Johnson praised the moves, saying HHS was one of the most bloated federal bureaucracies.
- "@SecKennedy is bringing new, much-needed ideas to the department by returning HHS to its core mission while maintaining the critical programs it provides Americans," Johnson wrote on X.
