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HHS Lost 20,000 Staff. Kennedy Says He Found Better Ones.

HHS shrank from 82,000 to 62,000 employees in 2025. Kennedy says he replaced them with 'a better group.' Here's the component-by-component breakdown.

By FedTools Team9 min read

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HHS Lost 20,000 Staff. Kennedy Says He Found Better Ones.

Last Updated: April 19, 2026

In April 2026, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Congress he had "replaced them with a better group of people who are actually going to address chronic health." The "them" was 20,000 employees, roughly one in four HHS workers, who left or were pushed out between January and July 2025.

HHS shrank from 82,000 to 62,000 in six months. It has since grown back to 72,000, with plans to hire 12,000 more. But the people leaving and the people arriving are not interchangeable. The departures included FDA drug reviewers, CDC disease surveillance specialists, NIH grant administrators, and SAMHSA behavioral health program managers. The arrivals are being directed toward Kennedy's "Make America Healthy Again" priorities.

This is the component-by-component story of what happened.

Key Takeaways

  • HHS lost 20,000 employees (82,000 → 62,000) between January and July 2025, a 24% reduction
  • 10,000 were RIF'd on April 1, 2025; another 10,000 left voluntarily through DRP and VERA/VSIP
  • FDA drug approval timeliness fell from 85-90% to 78% after losing 3,500 staff
  • SAMHSA lost more than half its workforce, with fewer than 60 staff managing $3 billion in grants
  • NIOSH was the exception: 1,000 employees fully reinstated in January 2026 after an AFGE-led legal fight
  • Kennedy plans to hire 12,000 new staff for his chronic health agenda. HHS now at 72,000.

The numbers, agency by agency

Agency Before RIF'd (Apr 1, 2025) Total Lost Status Apr 2026
FDA 18,000 3,500 3,500+ 78% on-time approvals (was 85-90%)
CDC 13,000 2,473 3,000+ ~800 reinstated; hiring resumed
NIH 20,000 1,312 1,500+ 777 grants ($1.9B) terminated
CMS 6,500 300 300 Reduced capacity
SAMHSA 900 undisclosed 450+ <60 staff managing $3B in grants
ACF 2,000 undisclosed 500 5 regional offices eliminated
NIOSH 1,000 ~1,000 0 (reinstated) Fully restored Jan 2026
AHRQ 300 undisclosed 150+ Severely reduced
IHS 15,500 exempted 30% vacancy $1B investment + hiring push
HHS Total 82,000 ~10,000 ~20,000 72,000 (hiring 12,000)

Sources: Senate hearing May 14, 2025; Federal News Network; NPR; Healthcare Dive.

How it happened: the four phases

Phase 1, February to March 2025: HHS fired 3,248 probationary employees across the department. That was 38% of all workers still in their trial period. Two federal judges ordered reinstatement. HHS partially complied.

Phase 2, January to April 2025: The voluntary window. DRP offered paid administrative leave in exchange for a future resignation date. VERA/VSIP offered up to $25,000 in buyout money with a March 14 deadline. Roughly 10,000 HHS employees took one of these exits.

Phase 3, March 27 to July 14, 2025: Kennedy announced HHS would shrink from 28 divisions to 15, close 5 regional offices, and cut 10,000 employees by RIF. Formal notices went out April 1. The proposed "Administration for a Healthy America" would merge OASH, HRSA, SAMHSA, ATSDR, and NIOSH into a single entity.

Phase 4, legal challenges: 19 state attorneys general plus DC filed New York v. Kennedy. Judge DuBose ruled in July 2025 that "the Executive Branch does not have the authority to order, organize, or implement wholesale changes to the structure and function of the agencies created by Congress." The injunction blocked specific cuts but did not reverse the overall RIF.

What happened to FDA

FDA lost approximately 3,500 employees through the April 2025 RIF. On-time drug approval rates dropped from the historical 85-90% range to 78% in the second half of 2025.

That number matters because every month a drug approval is delayed, patients who need it wait. The pipeline does not pause. FDA reviewers who built expertise over years in specific therapeutic areas cannot be replaced with new hires who need 12 to 18 months of training before they can review independently.

What happened to SAMHSA

SAMHSA may be the most dramatic case. The agency started 2025 with approximately 900 employees. By late 2025, more than half were gone. The Center for Mental Health Services was down to roughly 60 staff managing 2,500 grant programs and $3 billion in annual funding.

The practical consequence: $1.7 billion in state behavioral health block grants were terminated. These grants funded substance abuse treatment, crisis intervention, and community mental health services in every state.

Fewer than 60 people cannot meaningfully oversee $3 billion. That is not a staffing shortage. That is an agency that exists on paper.

The NIOSH exception

NIOSH is the one part of this story that reversed. Approximately 1,000 NIOSH employees, more than 90% of the workforce, received RIF notices. AFGE, the federal employee union, fought the action in court and through administrative channels for nine months.

On January 13, 2026, HHS reversed all NIOSH terminations. Every employee was fully reinstated. AFGE called it their biggest HHS victory.

The reinstatement happened because NIOSH's mission, workplace safety and health research, had bipartisan congressional support that other HHS components did not. Coal mining safety, in particular, has political constituencies in states that matter.

Kennedy's "better group" claim

In April 2026 testimony before the House Appropriations subcommittee, Kennedy made three claims:

  1. HHS had grown back to 72,000 employees (from the 62,000 floor)
  2. HHS would hire 12,000 new staff
  3. The new hires would be "a better group of people who are actually going to address chronic health"

Rep. Steny Hoyer pressed Kennedy on whether the fired workers "were not capable, were not motivated." Rep. Rosa DeLauro pointed out that roughly 300 CDC employees had been kept on paid administrative leave for over a year at a cost of $38 million, doing nothing, while their terminations were litigated.

The 12,000 new hires are being directed toward Kennedy's priorities: nutrition, chronic disease prevention, and what the administration calls "medical freedom." These are different skill sets than the epidemiologists, drug reviewers, and grant managers who left. Whether "better" is accurate depends entirely on what you think HHS should be doing.

What this means if you work at HHS

If you are still at HHS, three things are worth watching.

First, the hiring push is real. HHS has authorization to bring on 12,000 people. That means internal transfer and reassignment opportunities exist, but the positions are concentrated in Kennedy's priority areas. If your current role does not align with the chronic health agenda, your position may not be funded in the next budget cycle.

Second, New York v. Kennedy is still active. The July 2025 injunction blocked specific program cuts but did not reverse the overall RIF. If the case is decided in the states' favor on the merits, some restructuring actions could be unwound. If you were affected, the legal outcome could determine whether your separation stands.

Third, the IHS investment ($1 billion in infrastructure plus the largest hiring initiative in agency history) is a genuine opportunity for health professionals willing to serve in underserved communities. IHS had a 30% vacancy rate before any of the DOGE-era cuts. The need was there before Kennedy.

Calculate your severance

Federal severance follows a statutory formula: one week of pay per year of service, capped at 52 weeks. If you received a RIF notice, the Severance Pay Calculator estimates your payout. If you are weighing VERA or VSIP, the VERA/VSIP Decision Calculator compares the buyout against staying.

For pension planning during an uncertain period, the FERS Retirement Calculator models your annuity under different separation scenarios.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many HHS employees were fired or separated?

Approximately 20,000 total. About 10,000 through formal RIF notices issued April 1, 2025, and another 10,000 through voluntary departures including the Deferred Resignation Program and VERA/VSIP. HHS shrank from roughly 82,000 to 62,000 employees in six months.

What did Kennedy mean by "a better group of people"?

In April 2026 House testimony, Kennedy said HHS was hiring 12,000 new staff focused on "chronic health" and that they would be "a better group." The new hires are directed toward nutrition, chronic disease prevention, and "medical freedom" priorities rather than the traditional public health mission that the departing staff served.

Was the NIOSH workforce fully reinstated?

Yes. After a nine-month fight led by AFGE, all approximately 1,000 NIOSH employees received full reinstatement on January 13, 2026. NIOSH had bipartisan congressional support, particularly for its coal mining safety programs.

What happened to SAMHSA?

SAMHSA lost more than half its roughly 900 employees. By late 2025, fewer than 60 staff were managing over 2,500 grant programs and $3 billion in funding. $1.7 billion in state behavioral health block grants were terminated.

Can HHS employees who were RIF'd get severance?

Yes. Federal severance is one week of pay per year of service, capped at 52 weeks. Employees separated through formal RIF are eligible. Those who took DRP, VERA, or VSIP followed different compensation structures. Use the Severance Pay Calculator to estimate your payout.

Sources

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