A 21st Century HHS Should Serve People, Not Bureaucracy

Secretary Kennedy’s announcement of a shake-up at the Department of Health and Human Services spotlights the need for major reform at the bloated agency.

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump’s then–nominee to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, testifies at a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., January 29, 2025.

Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has announced a sweeping restructuring of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) — eliminating an estimated 10,000 positions equal to a $1.8 billion annual reduction. For too long, HHS has been bloated, redundant, and misaligned with the real needs of the American people. HHS has ceased to be a responsive, effective steward of public health. Instead, it has grown into a slow-moving leviathan, riddled with redundancy and soaked in taxpayer dollars. A course correction — one that consolidates overlapping agencies with the intent of a more streamlined, mission-focused department, puts mission before empire, and outcomes before bureaucracy — is long overdue.

The disparate agencies at HHS often have duplicative functions leading to siloed approaches to addressing the department’s mission, the building of individual fiefdoms, and needless administrative spending that would not be tolerated anywhere except the federal government. A reorganization of the department has long been necessary to eliminate redundancy, deliver on HHS’s mission, and reduce wasteful spending.

RL

About the Author

Ryan Long

Ryan Long is the director of congressional relations and a senior research fellow at Paragon Health Institute.

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