Since the March 27 announcement of the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) reorganization, Manatt has been tracking additional information made available about the offices and entities that have been most significantly impacted, as well as information regarding the mass layoffs of around 10,000 full-time employees (FTEs) that carried out on April 1.1
Notably, HHS has not made data about the reductions in force (RIFs) or the agency restructuring publicly available. As a result, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chair Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Ranking Member Bernie Sanders (I-VT) sent a letter to HHS Secretary Kennedy inviting him to testify before the Committee on the agency reorganization. The date of the hearing is not yet set, but testimony from the Secretary may shed more light on the scope of the agency's actions to date.
Details emerging this week include:
- Reported relocation of 340B From HRSA to CMS.
- Elimination of HHS and CMS Offices of Minority Health.
- Mass Layoffs Across Agency Offices of Communication.
- Widespread RIFs Across Suboffices and Subagencies Resulting in Elimination of Functions or Significant Capacity Reductions.
In addition, HHS identified the regional offices that it would close in reducing their regional offices by half. HHS announced closures of offices in New York, Boston, Chicago, Seattle, and San Francisco, leaving regional offices in Philadelphia, Denver, Kansas City, Atlanta, and Dallas.
Footnote
1. The below information is based on communications with the agency, documents shared with agency personnel and Congressional staff, and press reports. We have only included updates from press reports that have been widely reported by multiple media outlets.
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