RFK Jr. defends slashing almost a quarter of all staff at the health department: ‘When we consolidate them, Democrats say they’re eliminating them’

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Kennedy described his downsizing of the sprawling $1.7 trillion-a-year agency — from 82,000 workers to 62,000 — as necessary.

Chuck Fleischmann of Tennessee praised Kennedy for his work but raised concerns about whether the secretary has provided adequate evidence that artificial food dyes are bad for diets.

Kennedy plans to fold it into his new Administration for Healthy Americans.“We call that shift and shaft,” Dean said of Kennedy’s plans.

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Article Details

Author / Journalist: Amanda Seitz, The Associated Press

Category: EconomyBusiness

Markets: United States

Topics: Budget cuts Firing RFK Jr. Hiring Department of Health and Human Services HHS

Source Website Secure: Yes (HTTPS)

News Sentiment: Negative

Fact Checked: Legitimate

Article Type: News Report

Published On: 2025-05-14 @ 18:01:10 (11 hours ago)

News Timezone: GMT +8:00

News Source URL: fortune.com

Language: English

Article Length: 868 words

Reading Time: 5 minutes read

Sentences: 6 lines

Sentence Length: 145 words per sentence (average)

Platforms: Desktop Web, Mobile Web, iOS App, Android App

Copyright Owner: © Fortune

News ID: 28717660

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Official Website: fortune.com

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