The downsizing includes pushing out about 10,000 full-time employees through early retirements, deferred resignations, and other efforts. Another 10,000 will be laid off in a brutal restructuring, bringing the total HHS workforce from 82,000 to 62,000.

Layoff notices began Tuesday, impacting workers across multiple agencies. The FDA will lose 3,500 jobs, the CDC 2,400, the National Institutes of Health 1,200, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 300, according to figures released by HHS.

A bipartisan letter from lawmakers questions the legality of Robert F. Kennedy Jr's HHS changes and the lack of clear communication regarding their potential impact on American health.

After health secretary RFK Jr.’s ‘radical transparency’ pledge, HHS has shuttered much of the agency's communications and FOIA operations.

The public knew Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would pursue a radical agenda, but it doesn’t make the new developments less terrifying.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says sweeping layoffs and restructuring in the department will bring order to a bureaucracy he claims is in "pandemonium." But experts say the overhaul also likely gives him far greater control over dozens of federal health agencies.

Though the funding cancellation could cost up to $11 billion for the affected states, the release said Maryland could face up to $200 million in lost money alone.

The mass firing of the Administration for Community Living's Center for Policy and Evaluation makes no sense as a cost-cutting move.