Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has reversed course on extensive federal workforce reductions, announcing Thursday that certain programs and roles inadvertently eliminated will be restored.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Last week, he announced that he would cut 10,000 federal positions as part of restructuring the health department, and by Monday, these layoffs had begun in earnest.
However, during the effort to "Make America Healthy Again," Kennedy acknowledged that several excessive reductions were implemented throughout the process, although he states that this was always part of the strategy.
We're simplifying the agencies to better serve public health and the needs of the American people," Kennedy stated. "During this process, several studies that shouldn’t have been eliminated were indeed cut but have since been restored.
The staff members who shouldn't have been let go were indeed terminated, but we're bringing them back, as this was always our intention.
He added that Elon Musk Department of Government Efficiency's DOGE ) inadvertently trimmed some programs and positions that were not supposed to be axed, notably those within the human resources department.
But once again, Kennedy said it was always part of the “plan” to go back in and fix DOGE’s mistakes.
"Eighty percent of the reductions will come through under the DOGE initiative—this was something we discussed at the outset—but twenty percent of those cuts will need to be reinstated since errors will inevitably occur," he explained.
He mentions that he will restore several initiatives throughout HHS, including a program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). CDC that tracked blood lead levels in children.
"There were several programs that had been discontinued but are now being brought back, and I think this is one of them," Kennedy stated regarding the program.
This was a surprise for Erik Svendson, the head of the department that previously managed the CDC’s Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention section, who told According to ABC News, all activities have suddenly stopped with no information available about when, or even if, the program will resume.
HHS announced in a statement Last week, their plan was to reduce staff from 82,000 to 62,000 full-time workers "while maintaining essential services." The extra 10,000 reductions were due to employees who chose to leave or retired voluntarily following the president’s announcement. Donald Trump took office.
The following round of layoffs began at the beginning of the week, and by Tuesday, whole departments within the Food and Drug Administration, National Institutes of Health, and CDC were let go.
Requests under the Freedom of Information Act, along with programs focused on reproductive health and worker safety, and those dealing with HIV, violence, and injury prevention, were among those affected by these job cuts.
On Tuesday, Kennedy stated How our thoughts turn to those who have lost their employment. Yet, the truth remains evident: what we've been implementing has proven ineffective.
This transformation aims to refocus HHS on its primary objective: combating the chronic disease outbreak and Promoting Healthier Lives Across America," he stated. "This initiative benefits both taxpayers and all Americans we serve.
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