U.S. Sen. Jack Reed on Thursday slammed a plan by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lay off thousands of agency employees as short-sighted and jeopardizing public health.

The Department of Health and Human Services and its secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a program of job cuts and agency reorganization aimed at dismantling what remains of the public health infrastructure in the US.

The Trump administration nixed about $155M in grants that support infectious disease management, genetic screening of newborns and more.

The Illinois cuts are part of $12 billion in grants that the federal Department of Health and Human Services canceled this week.

There’s been no published list of what grants are getting cut, but there is evidence that since the end of the public health emergency, these grants were used to support work outside of COVID testing/

NCDHHS says this will impact immunization efforts, infectious disease monitoring, behavioral health and substance abuse services.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will eliminate 10,000 jobs as part of a major restructuring plan, it announced Thursday.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a major restructuring of the Health and Human Services Department, which now employs about 82,000 people.