Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Department of Government Efficiency are reshaping the U.S. health care system, starting with deep cuts to the agencies Kennedy now leads.

Kennedy and his allies argue such moves are needed to change federal culture and improve efficiency in the name of long-term health improvements. But critics question how Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again,” or MAHA, movement can be successful with a weakened federal health department.

In his first public comments about the cuts, expected to impact around 10,000 staffers, Kennedy told reporters the government bureaucracy was too bloated.

“All these programs, all of the CDC, NIH ... were not doing their jobs, and there was tremendous redundancy,” Kennedy told reporters Thursday, referring to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). “We're streamlining the agencies. We're going to make it work for public health, make it work for the American people.”

Even critics concede the sprawling health department could work better, but they see the Trump administration's approach of seemingly indiscriminate job cuts as potentially harmful to Americans, including children.

Among those fired were scientists who tested food and drugs for contaminants, analysts responsible for studying ways to save money on prescription medicines, communications staff who could inform the public about outbreaks and many more.

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