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Seattle leaders are preparing for more potential impacts related to continuing cuts to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that have already seen several hundred Seattle-based workers laid off.
The administration of President Donald Trump is exploring the consolidation of several Health and Human Services agencies and creating at least three new divisions, including the “Administration for a Healthy America.” According to the presentation to the Seattle Housing and Human Services Committee on Wednesday, 10 of the 28 current divisions are to be cut or consolidated.
On April 1, the administration began making cuts at U.S. Health and Human Services in order to consolidate several agencies such as the Food & Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and National Institutes of Health.
Upwards of 10,000 employees have left the department, according to Seattle Office of Intergovernmental Relations Federal Relations Director Anne Maher. The Trump administration is targeting cuts to 25% of total department staff.
U.S. Health and Human Resources Region 10 Office – located in Seattle – saw around 200 employees cut as part of the initial round of layoffs on April 1. It remains unclear how many more Region 10 office jobs are at risk.
The Region 10 Office covers a wide area, including Washington Alaska, Oregon, Idaho, and 272 tribes. It focuses on public health work including immunization, health equity and behavioral health.
Maher said the impacts of cuts to the Region 10 Office can be placed into three buckets: communication, policy, and programmatic concerns. The biggest concern is a lack of staffing sufficient enough to handle U.S. Health and Human Services projects and partnership.
“If there’s no one in the office, there’s no one doing the work – we’re going to see even just a lack of responses or potential delays to projects and partnerships that we have with HHS, along with our partners,” Maher said during the committee meeting.
Seattle City Councilmember Mark Solomon expressed frustrations with the federal government downsize impacting public health. He mentioned the Women’s Health Initiative seeing cuts to its funding earlier this week before adding a play-on to Trump’s tagline.
“I fail to see why is this happening; is it to make America great again?" Solomon asked. "Or to make America die quicker?”
Maher also warned that Seattle will see impacts to medical research stakeholders, including the University of Washington.
Programmatic concerns include the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program possibly losing up to $1 billion in funding, which a number of Seattle constituents rely on.
There are Seattle utility customers who rely on the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program to help pay their utility bills. However, trickle down effects of cuts to U.S. Health and Human Services could impact that program as well.
“These are extremely concerning developments in this sledgehammer approach to what we’re seeing across the country,” Seattle City Council Chair Sara Nelson said.
The Seattle Office of Intergovernmental Relations is continuing to watch for impacts to the city from federal cuts. City leaders may be forced to backfill funding holes.