Delaware’s Congresswoman Condemns the Trump Administration’s Dismantling of Department of Health and Human Services

Washington, D.C. — Today, Delaware’s Congresswoman Sarah McBride (DE-AL) joined dozens of her House colleagues in condemning cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), including the termination of 10,000 employees and the dismantling or consolidation of several key health agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The letter, led by Congresswoman Nikema Williams (GA-05) and addressed to Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, expresses deep concern about the harmful impact these actions would have on communities across the country.

HHS plays a vital role in safeguarding Americans’ health and delivering critical services like Medicare and Medicaid, food and drug safety, and public medical care.

The layoffs include:

• 3,500 full-time employees from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA);
• 2,400 from the CDC;
• 1,200 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH);
• 300 from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

“These layoffs are not just numbers on a spreadsheet—they are real people doing life-saving work for our communities,” said Rep. McBride. “The cuts threaten to undermine the nation’s health infrastructure and weaken services millions of Americans rely on—including Medicare, Medicaid, food and drug safety, and life-saving medical research. Seniors, working families and rural Delawareans cannot afford the consequences of these cuts. These services are not optional—they’re essential.”

The members wrote:

“Make no mistake, we have no faith that these drastic cuts will benefit the American people. We are concerned that this will ultimately lead to slowdowns in service, approvals, and research, and impacts to public health response capabilities.”

“Millions of Americans rely on Medicare, Medicaid, and other healthcare services and funding provided by HHS and its affiliates. Any delay in these services and funding would have drastic consequences for our most marginalized communities. Despite claims that FDA layoffs will not impact inspectors or drug, medical device, or food reviewers, prior layoffs by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to the FDA are reported to already have caused staff to struggle to meet deadlines.”

“As Black and brown communities continue to face severe healthcare disparities, it is crucial that access to affordable healthcare is not reduced in any way, but rather prioritized and improved, and research is undertaken to develop tailored solutions to these problems Moreover, in light of pervasive attempts to restrict access to sexual and reproductive healthcare for women, LGBTQ+ communities, and people of color, and increasing racial gaps in maternal health outcomes, your efforts to further deprioritize these offices is likely to further deprive our constituents of healthcare targeted to their needs, including HIV/AIDS care, maternal healthcare, minority healthcare, and women’s healthcare.”

“Given the Trump Administration’s broad intentions to eviscerate civil rights protections to harm Black and brown communities, as well as proposals to slash funding for social safety net programs, we have no faith that this restructure will result in improved protections for our constituents’ civil rights or their hard-earned and critically needed medical coverage.”

The letter was signed by the following members: Rep. Donald Beyer (VA-8), Rep. Salud Carbajal (CA-24), Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (MO-5), Rep. Steve Cohen (TN-9), Rep. Danny Davis (IL-7), Rep. Veronica Escobar (TX-16), Rep. Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), Rep. Jared Huffman (CA-2), Rep. Henry Johnson (GA-4), Rep. Julie Johnson (TX-32), Rep. Summer Lee (PA-12), Rep. Lucy McBath (GA-7), Rep. Sarah McBride (DE-At Large), Rep. Betty McCollum (MN-4), Rep. James McGovern (MA-2), Rep. LaMonica McIver (NJ-10), Rep. Gregory Meeks (NY-5), Rep. Eleanor Norton (DC-at large), Rep. Brittany Pettersen (CO-7), Rep. Mark Pocan (WI-2), Rep. Delia Ramirez (IL-3), Rep. Terri Sewell (AL-7), Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (VA-10), Rep. Shri Thanedar (MI-13), Rep. Bennie Thompson (MS-2), Rep. Jill Tokuda (HI-2), and Rep. Nydia Velázquez (NY-7).

Read the full letter here.

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