RFK Jr. Admits 20% of Health Agency Layoffs Were Mistakes
Approximately 10,000 HHS employees were laid off as part of a restructuring effort, with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. acknowledging that roughly 20% of these cuts were erroneous. The reinstatement of wrongly terminated personnel, including those from the CDC’s Lead Poisoning Prevention and Surveillance Branch, is underway. This correction aligns with the DOGE task force’s initial plan to account for potential mistakes within the 80/20 cut model. The impacted programs and specific individuals targeted for reinstatement remain largely unclear, though some FDA employees have already been temporarily rehired.
John Q. Hosedrinker