RFK Jr. pledges to trim fat at HHS, saving taxpayers billions

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has pledged to trim the fat at his department in keeping with the Department of Government Efficiency and President Donald Trump’s initiative to reduce the federal workforce.

On Thursday, Kennedy released a six-minute video explaining the planned overhaul of HHS. One of the major problems there currently is the infusion of more and more money while overall health in the U.S. has declined. “Over the past four years during the Biden administration, HHS’ budget increased by 38%, and its staffing increased by 17%,” he said.

“But all that money has failed to improve the health of Americans. In fact, a rate of chronic disease and cancer increased dramatically as our department has grown. Our lifespan has dropped, so Americans now live six years shorter than Europeans. We have the sickest nation in the world, and we have the highest rate of chronic disease,” he continued.

“Throwing more money at health care isn’t going to solve the problem, or it would have solved it already.”

‘Some of these little fiefdoms … actually hoard our patient medical data and sell it for profit to each other.’

Instead, the increased funding led to a massive jumble of committees and divisions that currently “don’t even talk to each other” and occasionally even “work at cross-purposes with each other.”

“Some of these little fiefdoms … are so insulated and territorial that they actually hoard our patient medical data and sell it for profit to each other,” he claimed.

What’s more, the giant bloat at HHS has impacted agency morale, RFK Jr. explained, leading to a “loss of any unified sense of mission.” Instead, the secretary hopes that a more efficient department and a clear, core mission will give staff members “a sense of pride and purpose.”

“I want every HHS employee to wake up every morning, asking themselves: ‘What can I do to restore American health today?'” Kennedy stated.

Unfortunately, efficiency means cutting redundant and less productive divisions. These “painful” cuts will downsize the HHS workforce from 82,000 to about 62,000, he said.

However, on a happier note, some of these committees will not be axed entirely but merged together. RFK Jr. seemed particularly proud of the new division called AHA — the Administration for a Healthy America — which will now include vestiges of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health and the Health Resources and Services Administration among other offices.

Kennedy also plans to hire more field experts like “scientists and frontline health providers” rather than deplete resources with “excess administrators.” “We’re going to do more with less,” he insisted.

All of these changes should save taxpayers about $1.8 billion a year, according to HHS estimates.

“Over time, bureaucracies like HHS become wasteful and inefficient even when most of their staff are dedicated and competent civil servants,” Kennedy said in a press release about the restructuring plans.

“This overhaul will be a win-win for taxpayers and for those that HHS serves. That’s the entire American public, because our goal is to Make America Healthy Again.”

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