Illinois Senator Durbin co-authors letter to Health Secretary Kennedy: “Gutting food safety will not Make America Healthy Again”

On Friday, Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin was joined by Senators Richard Blumenthal, Kirsten Gillibrand, Edward Markey, and Tina Smith sent a letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Martin Makary raising concerns about recent changes to the FDA that will weaken the Human Foods Program, the foremost food safety and nutrition program at at the FDA.

The Senators’ letter comes as Secretary Kennedy has slashed staffing at the US Department of Health and Human Services, terminating 10,000 employees, including 19 percent of the FDA workforce.

In addition to cleaving billions of dollars in budgeted federal funding, Secretary Kennedy has overseen the hollowing of the HHS workforce and infrastructure, putting thousands of dedicated career civil servants out of a job while coring out legally mandatory federal agencies.

Since Trump’s second inauguration, 10,000 HHS employees have already been forced out of the agency.  Then last month, HHS announced that an additional 10,000 public health workers will be fired, including 3,500 from the Food and Drug Administration, 2,400 workers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1,200 workers from the National Institutes of Health, and 300 workers from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Secretary Kennedy and Commissioner Makary have signed off on massive cuts to FDA, which the senators warn have done irreparable damage critical operations at the Human Foods Program.  In addition to laying off 3,500 FDA employees, including hundreds of workers in the Human Foods Program and Office of Inspections and Investigations, funding has been slashed for state inspection offices that review processed food facilities, produce facilities, and restaurants.

“The Human Foods Program oversees 78 percent of food in the United States.  It enforces federal laws, coordinates with other federal agencies and state and local governments, and distributes public health information.  Further, it combats diet-related chronic diseases, such as heart disease and certain cancers, that shorten lives and contribute to rising health care costs,” the Senators wrote in their letter. 

“It is one of the best positioned federal offices to help ‘Make America Healthy Again,’ but the Trump Administration has undermined the program through workforce terminations, funding cuts, and haphazard ‘reorganizations,’ all of which will put the health and well-being of Americans at risk,” the Senators continued their letter.

“The Government Accountability Office found that food inspections need to be strengthened to prevent outbreaks.  However, HHS’ changes will force food inspectors to spend valuable time booking their own travel and seeking approvals, rather than inspecting food facilities.  This is careless and will lead to even fewer inspections—and less safe food,” the Senators wrote.

Kennedy has elected to reduce the 28 HHS divisions into 15 while reducing HHS regional offices from 10 to five, resulting in the closure of the HHS Chicago office which worked with state and local governments addressing outbreaks and other public health concerns.

“Eliminating these regional offices will reduce state and local governments’ access to HHS resources, and the decision to shutter laboratories across the nation—some which had been working to curb the spread of bird flu—will lead to even slower response times to future outbreaks.  Further, reports that FDA is considering combining all product offices into a single Office of Product Evaluation and Regulation would further undermine oversight and enforcement,” the Senators wrote.

The Senators concluded their letter, urging Secretary Kennedy and Commissioner Makary to reconsider their decision to axe HHS and FDA’s workforce, “at the detriment of Americans’ health.”

The senators concluded their letter, “Americans deserve access to the safest and healthiest food. But, too often, it has been a source of sickness, rather than a source of health.  The Trump Administration’s recent actions, sadly, will not change that—and will not ‘Make America Healthy Again.’  Americans will become even sicker.

“We encourage HHS and FDA to abandon these plans and invest in improving the health and well-being of Americans.”

Photo Credit: Reuters