More than 20,000 jobs were eliminated, billions of dollars in scientific research has been threatened or paused, and a budget draft proposes a major restructuring of Health and Human Services. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and President Donald Trump have reshaped the nation’s public health infrastructure in the administration’s first 100 days. More than 20,000 jobs were eliminated, billions of dollars in federally funded scientific research has been threatened or paused, and a budget draft proposes a major restructuring of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Kennedy, the HHS secretary, has stressed that the cuts and overhaul are necessary to refocus the federal government’s public health mission on addressing chronic disease and a lagging life expectancy rate, eliminating redundancy, increasing transparency, and reducing government costs. As part of the “Make America Healthy Again” movement, the Trump administration has created a commission that “aims to end the childhood chronic disease epidemic.” The Trump administration has also targeted funding cuts for grants that do not align with its ideological and political priorities. An HHS spokesperson said in an email that the HHS budget draft, known as a “passback,” “is pre-decisional and that no final decisions have been made.”