(NewsNation) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is defending his plan to lay off 10,000 employees in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, telling NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo the “sprawling” agency can be streamlined while maintaining its core mission.
HHS, which oversees the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health, already expects to shed 10,000 employees through a Trump administration buyout plan. If Kennedy has his way, the headcount will drop to 62,000.
Kennedy noted that HHS has 100 communications departments, 40 procurement departments and “dozens” of IT and human resources units.
“None of them talk to each other,” Kennedy said during a live interview on “CUOMO” Thursday. “And what we’re trying to do now is to streamline the agency, to eliminate the redundancies and to focus the mission so that everybody at HHS is going to wake up every morning and say, ‘What am I going to do today to make America healthy again?’”
What agencies will be affected by RFK Jr.’s job cuts?
Kennedy said administrators will be targeted for the job cuts: “We’re not cutting scientists. We’re not cutting frontline workers.”
The Food and Drug Administration will see a decrease of about 3,500 full-time employees. Agency officials have said that these cuts will not affect drug, medical device, food reviewers or inspectors.
The CDC will see about 2,400 jobs cut, with around 1,000 of the cuts coming in the form of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response moving under the CDC, according to agency officials.
Cuts will also be made at the National Institute of Health, with about 1,200 employees expected to be impacted. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will see the fewest number of job cuts, with only around 300 employees being affected. Agency officials said that Medicare and Medicaid will not be affected by Kennedy’s plan.
RFK Jr.’s job cuts bring mixed views
There have been mixed feelings regarding RFK Jr.’s restructuring plan.
U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-. Colo., said, “We’re talking about Medicaid, we’re talking about all the research we do to create the miracle vaccines. You can’t just willy-nilly make these (cuts). I mean, thousands and thousands of people. It doesn’t make sense.”
However, Kansas Republican Sen. Rodger Marshall said the cuts won’t affect frontline workers in health care and research. “At the end of the day, it will be a more efficient system being run by people who care about their job.”
The announced layoffs at HHS, which administers Medicaid and Medicare, drew warnings from Democrats and policy experts. At a news conference, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., said Kennedy’s plan goes beyond restructuring.
“It is a catastrophe for the health care of every American,” he said.
RFK Jr. and the controversy over his vaccine comments
Kennedy was considered a controversial choice to lead HHS because of his past comments questioning the efficacy of vaccines. He was criticized for initially downplaying recent measles outbreaks in the U.S. But some of his ideas, such as urging U.S. food manufacturers to discontinue using artificial dyes, have been met with wider acceptance.
Kennedy, a former 2024 independent presidential candidate who dropped out and endorsed Trump, has touted the “Make America Healthy Again” movement. He has decried the U.S.’s rising rates of diseases like obesity, diabetes and addiction.
Despite past criticism, Kennedy was confirmed to lead the HHS in February.
RFK Jr.’s restructuring plan part of DOGE’s efforts to cut government
The planned HHS job cuts are part of a wider effort within the Trump administration to reduce the size of government. These efforts have been spearheaded by the controversial Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, under Elon Musk.
Kennedy praised DOGE’s efforts to help reorganize HHS but conceded the job cuts will be tough for some.
“I think, in the long run, we’re going to have much greater morale in a demoralized agency,” he said.
Also Thursday, Kennedy declined to comment about the highly publicized Signal chat leak that has embroiled the U.S. Department of Defense.
Chris Cuomo hosts “CUOMO,” a no-nonsense show featuring the day’s most important news from all perspectives. “CUOMO” airs weeknights at 8 p.m./7C on NewsNation. Click here to see the latest videos from “Cuomo.”