Mar 4, 2025; Washington, DC, USA; U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attends U.S. President Donald Trump's address to a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on March 04, 2025 in Washington, DC. President Trump was expected to address Congress on his early achievements of his presidency and his upcoming legislative agenda. Mandatory Credit: Win McNamee-Pool via Imagn Images
Washington D.C. – The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has been hit with significant layoffs, with Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. admitting that around 20% of the 10,000 job cuts were made in error and will need to be corrected. These cuts are part of a broader effort under the Trump administration to reduce the size of the federal government workforce, spearheaded by Kennedy and Elon Musk’s unofficial “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE).
The massive job cuts began this week and have drawn intense scrutiny from union representatives and public health experts alike. It was initially announced that 10,000 people would lose their jobs, with the possibility of further reductions that could ultimately slash the department’s workforce by nearly a quarter. However, Kennedy, a former environmental lawyer and vaccine skeptic, revealed that a substantial portion of the cuts had been made by mistake.
“Personnel that should not have been cut, were cut,” Kennedy told reporters on Thursday. “We’re reinstating them. And that was always the plan. Part of the Doge, we talked about this from the beginning, is we’re going to do 80% cuts, but 20% of those are going to have to be reinstated, because we’ll make mistakes.”
The job cuts, which affected various departments within HHS, have resulted in the loss of key public health expertise across a range of programs. One of the most notable errors, according to Kennedy, was the elimination of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Lead Poisoning Prevention and Surveillance Branch, which plays a critical role in monitoring and responding to lead exposure in children. This oversight has already stalled ongoing public health investigations, including a request from Milwaukee’s health department for assistance with lead contamination in water. CDC officials said that due to the layoffs, they could no longer continue their efforts to assist with the issue.
While Kennedy has acknowledged the mistakes, it remains unclear which specific staff will be reinstated or which programs will be restored. The layoffs, which have affected broad sectors within HHS, have left numerous positions unfilled, including critical roles in areas such as smoking cessation, infertility, and mine safety.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was also significantly impacted by the cuts, including the elimination of the division responsible for crafting tobacco policy, which had been funded by the tobacco industry. Robert Califf, former FDA commissioner, expressed concern over the ramifications of these layoffs, calling it “a dark day for public health.” Despite this, Kennedy has defended the restructuring plan, asserting that such cuts were necessary for the sake of efficiency.
In response to the cuts, some FDA employees have already been asked to return temporarily to their positions, as the agency grapples with the loss of about 170 employees in key areas such as inspections and investigations. These temporary reinstatements are being seen as a stopgap solution while the department works to address the aftermath of the layoffs.
The situation remains fluid, and further updates are expected as Kennedy’s team continues to navigate the fallout from these controversial cuts. Public health experts and union leaders are continuing to voice concerns about the long-term impact of such sweeping reductions on the nation’s health programs.
