Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Trump’s now-appointed Secretary of Health and Human Services, speaks at 2024 FreedomFest. Credit: Flickr/GageSkidmore
On April 1, the Department of Health and Human Services began laying off thousands of employees across a variety of agencies, signaling the start of plans announced last week to dismiss 10,000 HHS workers. HHS employees, some of whom found out they were fired only after realizing they were unable to badge into their offices, reported an air of “despair” at agencies throughout the department.
Meanwhile, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. hailed the cuts as the beginning of a “revolution”, marking a reduction of “bureaucratic sprawl” intended to increase the department’s efficiency. Shortly after the inauguration, the Trump administration encouraged federal employees to take early retirement and voluntary separation options, resulting in 10,000 workers leaving the HHS. After this week’s 10,000 additional dismissals, the HHS now has only 62,000 employees, compared to 82,000 employees when Trump took office. The HHS claimed, without providing details, that the cuts will save taxpayers an estimated $1.8 billion annually, which amounts to around 1% of the HHS’s $1.7 trillion budget. Kennedy stated that the HHS, which includes the Center for Disease Control, Food and Drug Administration, and National Institutes of Health, “has failed” to use those funds to improve the health of Americans. The FDA, CDC, and NIH will slash 3,500, 2,400, and 1,200 jobs, respectively.
An attack on working-class well-being
The cuts are part of a broader restructuring of the HHS. The Trump administration plans to “consolidate” the department’s existing 28 divisions into 15 agencies. Among the divisions that have been eliminated are the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which combats mental illness and substance abuse by providing care and destigmatizing these issues, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, which funds research and proposes standards aimed at protecting workers by reducing workplace injury and illness.
Many divisions that were not removed entirely faced significant setbacks. Many employees from the Office of Head Start, which provides educational support for children from low-income families, were laid off, threatening the early childhood education, nutrition, and health services provided by the division. Other critical HHS programs have also been thrown into jeopardy. All employees working on the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which is part of the Administration for Children and Families, have been dismissed. The LIHEAP helps 6.2 million low-income Americans with home energy costs, including providing financial assistance for heating and cooling services. Every staffer affiliated with the Social Services Block Grant program, an ACF program that provides funding for states to meet the needs of vulnerable populations and families, has also been dismissed.
These divisions and programs, along with the many others that have been terminated or dramatically affected by the restructuring, have long funded critical research for and provided essential aid to millions of working-class families. It is unclear whether the work done by these divisions and programs will continue under the Trump administration, which has taken a multi-pronged approach to cutting back on aid for the working class.
Last month, the administration declared its intention to cancel billions of dollars of funding promised to local public health departments, prompting legal authorities from 23 states to jointly sue the administration. In January, the administration ordered an immediate freeze to critical NIH activities, jeopardizing much of the nearly $48 billion in medical and public health research funded by the NIH. While the administration might be forced to redact some of the freeze orders, the resulting uncertainty has affected colleges and universities throughout the country. Some, most notably Columbia University, have been pressured into complying with the administration’s political demands in order to restore lost research funds. The NIH also canceled dozens of grants related to LGBTQ+ and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion research. Such funding cuts and administrative restructurings are tantamount to an attack on the public health and education of working-class and vulnerable populations.
Mounting resistance
Students, researchers, and organizers have united with the American public to demand an end to the Trump administration’s unprecedented attacks on public health. A lawsuit filed against the NIH by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of researchers and organizations, including the American Public Health Association and International Union and United Auto Workers, is fighting the NIH on its decision to cancel grants on politically-motivated grounds. This lawsuit is the most recent of several legal challenges to the Trump administration’s funding freezes. Numerous labor and scientific research groups, including the UAW, have called a national “Kill the Cuts” day of action on April 8 to protest funding cuts to education and life-saving research, mobilizing students on campuses nationwide into action.
Such organizing efforts are a sign that the working class is prepared to oppose the Trump administration. They also underscore the resentment brewing among large elements of the working class, which is becoming aware of the reality of Trump’s billionaire agenda. As this resentment and awareness grows, the working class will be increasingly galvanized into an organized resistance against the administration and its capitalist benefactors.
