RFK Jr. Upends His Promise to Enhance Transparency
HHS secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. promised at his confirmation hearings to enhance transparency at HHS and the health agencies it manages, but HHS-directed employee terminations that began 4/1 will most likely diminish transparency instead. “Public health agencies should be transparent,” he said before being confirmed by the Senate. “And if we want Americans to restore trust in the public health agencies, we need transparency.”
Today, staff handling Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests at FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and NIH were slashed under an HHS order (see story) to layoff 10,000 employees at the department, according to a CBS News report. FOIA requests are one of the main avenues for researchers, academia, advocacy groups, law firms, consultants and reporters for obtaining data, records, and the full story behind many regulatory actions taken by FDA and other agencies. Cutting the staff at these information disseminating offices will stall and delay many requests due to lack of resources.
At FDA, CBS says two-thirds of the FOIA records request staff were cut, leaving about 50 remaining. “Most still here don’t do FOIA processing,” an FDA official said. “They do litigation and other types of disclosures. For most types of FOIA requests, there is no staff.” All of the workers in the CDC's FOIA office were cut, two officials told CBS. And many FOIA staff at NIH were also let go, one official said. Two officials told CBS that they expect Kennedy’s team will now centralize control over what is released in response to future records requests.
In another blow to transparency, HHS’ public affairs department will also tighten control on other communications leaving the agencies, CBS reported. Staff at the public affairs arms of FDA, the CDC, and Health Resources and Services Administration saw many if not all of their personnel cut, and these include those who assist media with research and information requests. At a White House meeting last month, Kennedy had cited the department’s dozens of communications teams as an example of “redundancies” that could be “streamlined.”
In response to an FDA Webview request for comment on the layoffs, HHS late in the afternoon shared this statement that was being released by RFK Jr.: “This is a difficult moment for all of us at HHS. Our hearts go out to those who have lost their jobs. But the reality is clear: what we've been doing isn't working. Despite spending $1.9 trillion in annual costs, Americans are getting sicker every year. In the past four years alone, the agency’s budget has grown by 38% — yet outcomes continue to decline. We must shift course. HHS needs to be recalibrated to emphasize prevention, not just sick care. These changes will not affect Medicare, Medicaid, or other essential health services. This overhaul is about realigning HHS with its core mission: to stop the chronic disease epidemic and Make America Healthy Again. It’s a win-win for taxpayers, and for every American we serve.”