The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is preparing for extensive layoffs as Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his aides finalize restructuring plans. Expected to be announced in the next week or two, these changes follow earlier staff reductions and aim to reshape the department's organization. In particular, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has been warned to brace for up to 90% workforce cuts. This restructuring effort is backed by the White House's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), composed of HHS employees and knowledgeable industry figures.
The expected cuts at the department under the reorganization and "reduction-in-force" plans ordered by the White House come after many workers have already been fired or let go throughout the nation's health agencies.
In one agency within HHS, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, DOGE officials told leaders on March 11 to expect up to 90% of their staff to be cut.
Decisions by Kennedy and his team on the changes to the department's makeup and organization are expected within a week or two, multiple senior health officials have been told.
Several members of DOGE, including former insurance executive Brad Smith, have been intimately involved with the plans to restructure HHS.
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