The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will cut 10,000 full-time jobs in a "dramatic restructuring," said Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who leads the agency.
It's part of the Department of Government Efficiency's ongoing "workforce optimization initiative."
Combined with early retirement and other workforce reduction initiatives, the federal health agency will have lost about a quarter of its workforce — shrinking from 82,000 employees to 62,000.
Its regional offices will be cut in half, the department said.
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"The overhaul will implement the new HHS priority of ending America’s epidemic of chronic illness by focusing on safe, wholesome food, clean water, and the elimination of environmental toxins," the department said in a press release.
The "restructuring" plans will consolidate the health agency's 28 divisions down to 15. However, Kennedy plans to add a new division: the Administration for a Healthy America, or AHA, for things like human resources, information technology and external affairs.
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