Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Thursday that some of the programs and workers purged in last week's dramatic restructuring plan to shed 20,000 staffers will be reinstated, saying they were mistakenly cut.
âThere were some programs that were cut that are being reinstated," Kennedy told ABC News. "Personnel that should not have been cut were cut; we're reinstating them, and that was always the plan."
The restructuring plan is part of Department of Government Efficiencyâs workforce optimization initiative, led by Elon Musk, President Donald Trumpâs billionaire adviser.
Agencies under the department including the Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health are slated to cut 3,500, 2,400 and 1,200 employees respectively.
Ultimately, the current 82,000 full-time employees will be reduced to 62,000, according to the announcement last week.