(Adnkronos) – The Department of Health led by Robert F. Kennedy is cutting 20,000 jobs, with 10,000 employees taking early retirement and other departures and another 10,000 being laid off. Kennedy Jr. himself announced today the reduction of a quarter of the number of employees, currently 82,000, allowing for ‘savings’ of $1.8 billion.
This means the reduction from 28 to 15 of the department’s divisions, from 10 to 5 regional offices, to create – reads a statement – a new division called Healthy America that will focus on “healthy eating, clean water and the elimination of environmental toxins” with the goal of “making America healthy again.”
Attacking the waste of what he calls “the rampant bureaucracy” of the department, Kennedy Jr., in a video on X, states that while health care spending in America has increased, cancer and chronic disease rates have risen and life expectancy has fallen. “Now we will do more with less, we will not leave any American behind,” added the environmental lawyer known for his no-vax positions. One of the offices where the ax of cuts, inspired by Elon Musk’s Doge policy, will be felt most strongly will be the FDA, the drug agency responsible for checking the safety of vaccines and medicines, which will lose 3,500 employees.
