Press Releases

Today, Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, released the following statement after U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced he would be eliminating 10,000 employees in the Trump Administration’s latest attack on the civil service.

“The HHS Secretary is bragging about decimating the world’s best public health agency, undercutting vital research and hindering medical breakthroughs, all while measles is resurfacing nationwide and the Bird Flu tears through American farms, raising health concerns as well as prices on families’ groceries. Over 70 percent of the staff on the Secretary’s chopping block come from the FDA, CDC, and NIH – these are the people inspecting the safety of your food and drugs, developing vaccine recommendations, tracking opioid overdoses, fighting infectious-disease outbreaks, developing tomorrow’s medical miracles, and doing more of the vital work that keeps Americans safe and healthy. This is a grave mistake, and I have serious concerns about how this will impact Americans’ well-being now and long into the future.”