As Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gears up for his visit to New Mexico, his recent strategy to shrink the workforce within the Health and Human Services Department has sparked criticism. Deb Haaland, a gubernatorial candidate for New Mexico, has openly criticized the plan.
Last week, Kennedy Jr., currently serving as President Trump's Health and Human Services Secretary, unveiled a plan to cut 10,000 full-time positions across various health agencies. The affected sectors would include those handling Medicaid navigation, infectious disease monitoring, and critical medical research support. Additionally, the plan entails transferring high-level officials to the Indian Health Service (IHS), despite doubts about these officials' fit for the agency’s requirements.
Haaland, who has previously relied on the Indian Health Service for personal health care, described the layoffs and reassignments as "disrespectful."
“It’s disrespectful of the I.H.S., it’s disrespectful of the people who have dedicated their careers to H.H.S. and to our country, fighting disease and regulating the things that need to be regulated,” Haaland remarked. “I just don’t understand what they think they’re doing.”
Further addressing Kennedy Jr.'s impending trip to New Mexico, Haaland stated, “I won’t mince words, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is doing Trump and Musk’s bidding and it is causing chaos in New Mexico. The health care system in this country is broken, but firing employees who help New Mexicans get Medicaid and cutting funding and staff for cancer cure research is unacceptable.”
