Robert F Kennedy JR, Secretary of Health and Human Services Reuters Report.

Recombination will affect institutions such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

In the cuts, 3,500 positions will be removed from the FDA and 2,400 will be removed from the CDC and NIH. Coupled with the recent voluntary departures, these reductions will reduce the health and public service (HHS) workforce from 82,000 to 62,000.

“Over time, even the majority of employees are dedicated and competent civil servants, bureaucracies like HHS can become wasteful and inefficient,” Kennedy said. “This overhaul will be a win-win for taxpayers and those serving HHS. This is the entire American public because our goal is to make America healthy again.”

The move is consistent with President Donald Trump’s broader move to reduce federal bureaucracy. Trump has recently directed all federal agencies to prepare for additional layoffs and the White House is now reviewing the proposed plan.

Although large institutions like HHS have undergone reorganization under both Republican and Democratic governments, the scale of such overhaul is unprecedented. “This is not only a restructuring of the HHS. It is also a cut to the federal workforce that will ultimately affect government services,” said KFF health policy expert Larry Levitt.

Despite the unemployment, HHS said FDA inspectors and drug examiners will not be affected. However, experts warn that cuts could lead to delays in drug approval and medical device reviews. The restructuring will also merge several health-related offices into a new entity, the healthy U.S. government, with a focus on addiction, environmental health and primary care.