HHS Health Beat: FDA Food Safety, HHS Restructuring, and Deregulation Priorities

# HHS Health Beat: Your Weekly Dose of Health Policy News

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Welcome to the HHS Health Beat, where we bring you the latest from the Department of Health and Human Services. I'm your host, and today we're diving into the most significant developments shaping America's health landscape.

Our top story this week: The FDA has just advanced a robust post-market chemical review program aimed at keeping our food supply safe and healthy. This initiative, announced on May 15th, represents a major step in consumer protection as the administration continues its "Make America Healthy Again" agenda.

This comes amid a dramatic transformation at HHS. Since March, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has overseen a sweeping departmental restructuring that consolidates 28 divisions into 15, reduces the workforce from 82,000 to 62,000 employees, and trims regional offices from 10 to 4. The restructuring aims to save taxpayers $1.8 billion annually.

A cornerstone of this reorganization is the new Administration for a Healthy America, which combines several offices focused on chronic disease prevention, behavioral health, and community health services. Meanwhile, the CDC is returning to its core mission of epidemic preparedness and response.

The restructuring has prompted Senate Democrats to schedule hearings next week. Senator Peter Welch of Vermont expressed concern, calling it an "assault on the structures that provide scientific research, that are engaged in disease prevention, that are engaged in the delivery of health."

In regulatory news, HHS and FDA issued a Request for Information on May 13th seeking public input on regulations that should be eliminated to "lower healthcare costs, reduce burdens on physicians, and address the prevalence of chronic disease." This aligns with the administration's deregulatory approach, which requires eliminating at least 10 existing regulations for every new one proposed.

On the budget front, California's May Revision includes $1.9 billion for a Behavioral Health Workforce Initiative starting January 2026, plus $90 million for reproductive health investments including midwifery education and loan repayments.

If you'd like to weigh in on which healthcare regulations should be reconsidered, public comments on the recent Request for Information are due by July 14th. Visit HHS.gov for more information on how to participate.

Next week, we'll bring you coverage of the Senate hearings on the HHS restructuring and its impacts on key health programs. Until then, stay healthy, America!

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