Last week, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., said that certain HHS programs had been erroneously reduced in the effort to reduce the workforce by 10,000 roles, and added that the administration was willing to recognize when it made mistakes and remedies.
But the authorities soon returned Kennedy’s comments and a significant number of employees have not been hired.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., observes during a press conference on April 7, 2025 at Salt Lake City.
Melissa Majchrzak/AP
When asked on Monday if restoration were planned, Kennedy sought to describe programs as “consolidated” and insisted that “central” roles had not been reduced.
He did not say, as he did last week, that the roles were cut by mistake or that they would be reinstated.
“We do not cut any basic program or critical care programs or any scientific program,” Kennedy said in response to an ABC News question. “These programs are consolidating in the new agency that will make the United States again healthy.”
Last week, when asked why a CDC program that monitored exposure to lead among the children was almost completely destroyed, Kennedy told ABC News that the department’s work with Dux meant “80% cuts, but 20% of them will have to reinstall, because we will make mistakes.”
“And one of the things that President Trump has said is that if we, if we make mistakes, we will admit it and we will remedy it, and that is one of the mistakes,” Kennedy said.
But shortly after, an HHS official clarified that the specific program on which Kennedy was asked was not going to be brought back. The work will be transferred to the newly formed administration for a healthy America, said the official.
And later that week, a source confirmed that, in fact, there were no more plans to hire the HHS employee agency, despite Kennedy’s comments that imply broader efforts to restore people.
-ABC News’ Hell
