--- title: "RFK Jr. Realizes He’s Made a Huge Mistake" description: "Last week, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary and noted anti-vaccine crackpot Robert Kennedy Jr. announced sweeping layoffs as part of a major restructuring effort. Roughly 20,000 of the department's 82,000 full-time employees would be cut. Half of those have been laid off, with the rest being made up of early retirements, and buyouts, according to the announcement. And it's looking like Kennedy is already having major regrets about greatly weakening public health in the United States with the help of Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency. \"Personnel that should not have been cut, were cut,\" he […]" date: "2025-04-04" modified: "2025-04-04" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/rfk-jr-realizes-hes-made-a-huge-mistake" categories: - "Developments" - "Health & Medicine" tags: - "doge" - "elon musk" - "health" - "public health" - "rfk jr" --- # RFK Jr. Realizes He’s Made a Huge Mistake ![Last week, Department of Health and Human Services secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. announced sweeping layoffs. He's having regrets.]() *\Image: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images\* Last week, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary and noted anti-vaccine crackpot Robert Kennedy Jr. [announced sweeping layoffs]() as part of a major restructuring effort. Roughly 20,000 of the department's 82,000 full-time employees ended up on the chopping block. Around 10,000 have been laid off, with the rest being taking either early retirements or buyouts, according to the announcement. But it's looking like Kennedy moved too hastily, firing important workers who even he admits were actually needed. "Personnel that should not have been cut were cut," he told reporters this week, as [quoted by *CBS News*](). "We're reinstating them." Bafflingly, he defended the unprofessional screwup. "And that was always the plan," Kennedy added. "Part of the DOGE, we talked about this from the beginning, is we're going to do 80 percent cuts, but 20 percent of those are going to have to be reinstated, because we'll make mistakes." It's a confounding admission, highlighting the second Trump administration's "[move fast and break things]()" approach, and how little thought is being put into sweeping cuts affecting the HHS and a vast number of other government agencies. DOGE has already had to reinstate key government employees on several occasions, including [staff who were working to contain bird flu]() and [USAID efforts to prevent Ebola outbreaks](). Kennedy, a noted figure in the anti-vaccine movement, has proven a highly controversial pick for the job, and is [already pouring resources into investigating]() long-debunked claims linking vaccines and autism. It's a precarious situation, especially given the ongoing measles outbreak. As the [*New York Times* reported]() late last month, ill-informed measles patients were experiencing complications after following Kennedy's [advice to take large amounts of Vitamin A](). As part of the HHS restructuring efforts, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's complete Lead Poisoning Prevention and Surveillance Branch was laid off, according to *CBS* — which, Kennedy argued, was a mistake. Despite backtracking on DOGE's ill-devised plans, it remains unclear how or when the HHS will reinstate these key figures. CDC officials told *CBS* that they hadn't been informed of any upcoming plans to do so. And the effects of the mass layoffs are already being felt. The CDC, for instance, won't be able to continue its investigation into lead in water "due to the loss of subject matter experts," officials said, as quoted by *CBS*. Despite admitting that 20 percent of the cuts were a mistake, Kennedy has said that restructuring the HHS could [save taxpayers $1.8 billion a year]() "without impacting critical services." Now that the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration have been hit hard, we'll all find out whether that'll turn out to be true. **More on Kennedy:** *[Man Who Believes Poppers Cause AIDS Is Planning to Gut America's HIV Prevention Office]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()