STAT+: HHS agency responsible for health care quality research threatened with mass layoffs

WASHINGTON — A small government agency responsible for putting medical products and services to practical use and making health care safe is feared to be the latest target for mass layoffs by the Trump administration. 

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, part of the Department of Health and Human Services, has about 300 employees and a budget of $369 million, which is about 0.02% of what the government spends on health care. But AHRQ hasn’t escaped the notice of the DOGE Service, which has been slashing agency payrolls and budgets across the government. Insiders say that DOGE aims to reduce AHRQ staff by 80% to 90%. That’s based on what agency leaders were told by DOGE representatives at an in-person meeting on March 11, one current employee and one former employee said. 

AHRQ does the kind of research that fits well with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s plan to fight chronic disease, often by improving Americans’ diets. During his confirmation hearing, Kennedy said he would be “working with AHRQ to hear their proposals on how they will make Americans healthy again.”

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