The CMS and HHS offices that coordinate efforts to eliminate health disparities are being shut down completely as part of the Trump administration’s overhaul of the federal healthcare department, according to sources with direct knowledge of the matter.
The closures could hamper government efforts to improve healthcare for underserved Americans, including racial and ethnic minorities and patients in rural areas, said HHS officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution from the Trump administration.
Shutting the offices, which were authorized by the Affordable Care Act more than a decade ago, may also be illegal, according to legal experts.
The CMS Office of Minority Health and the HHS Office of Minority Health are likely victims of the Trump administration’s ideological campaign against diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, initiatives.
One CMS staffer said that members of the Department of Government Efficiency — the team of cost-cutters led by billionaire Elon Musk that appear to be dictating extensive cuts to the federal workforce — probably didn’t even know what work the CMS OMH did before deciding to shut it down.
“We’ve all seen that nuance is not DOGE’s strength. Because our office has the word ‘minority’ in it, and the words ‘health equity’ were all over our previous website — and ‘equity’ is obviously a part of DEI — these idiots at DOGE can’t see past that,” they said.
Originally, the Trump administration planned to cut the majority of CMS OMH staffers, but let the office survive in a minimized state, according to an HHS source with knowledge of the situation.
But something changed the day before the reorganization was announced late last week, leading DOGE to decide to cut the entire office.
The closure of the CMS OMH will affect about 40 employees — roughly 13% of the 300 jobs that will be cut at the agency that oversees health insurance programs for 160 million Americans, along with other vital healthcare functions.
The CMS OMH coordinates CMS programs overseeing rural health and proposes initiatives to improve it. The office also co-leads Medicare’s efforts to prevent and stop the progression of diabetes, and creates tools for researchers and the public to understand disparities in medical care across the U.S.
Health plans and other organizations use CMS OMH data to identify patient populations that may need more assistance and work to improve their care, according to a staffer. The office also develops measures used by other departments in their regulations.
Similarly, the HHS OMH promotes policies and provides grants to community groups improving health equity, according to an archive of its website.
Websites for numerous minority health offices, including the HHS OMH, the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Minority Health and Health Equity and the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Office of Health Equity, were taken down after President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling for federal agencies to end DEI initiatives earlier this year.
Some of the pages were later brought back online, though the HHS OMH’s website remains down.
Trump administration officials plan to redistribute some of the CMS OMH’s functions to other CMS centers, according to sources, though it’s not clear what programs will be retained or where they’ll end up. A spokesperson for the department did not respond to a request for comment.
But staffers are skeptical that any of the OMH’s functions will be retained, given other Trump administration actions rolling back efforts to close gaps in healthcare quality and access — a key priority of the Biden administration.
And if they are, decentralizing them could hamper efforts to improve health disparities in the U.S., a country that remains dogged by unequal access to and quality of medical care.
“If there’s no data there’s no problem in some peoples’ minds. These issues can’t be proven to exist. And these issues prove that some groups — particularly African American males — are seriously underserved,” one CMS worker said. “As far as the effects on populations, people are going to die.”
The CMS OMH and the HHS OMH are two of eight minority health offices in the HHS.
The fate of the other six offices — tucked within the FDA, HRSA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality — is unknown.
However, sources said it’s likely the other offices will be closed as well.
Yet closing the offices is likely illegal, according to a lawyer. The HHS OMH was created in 1986 and reauthorized by the ACA in 2010. The ACA also established the other minority health offices to lead and coordinate activities to improve healthcare for underserved populations in the U.S.
“The law did specifically name [the HHS OMH] and the other offices, so you can’t just eliminate them,” said John Fanburg, the chair of the healthcare practice at law firm Brach Eichler. “To change them would require legislation.”
Since assuming office in January, Trump has undertaken a number of actions that critics say are illegal, including firing tens of thousands of probationary federal employees starting in February. One CMS staffer said this was more of the same.
”They’re literally breaking the law,” they said, comparing it to the Trump administration’s dismantling of foreign aid under the U.S. Agency for International Development.
“They figure they’re going to break the law and then they’re going to challenge people to come sue them in court, but that’s going to take time. And meanwhile, they can cause the damage they want to cause,” they said.
The HHS reorganization fulfills a goal of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to cut what he views as bureaucratic bloat of the massive health department, which responds to disease outbreaks, ensures the safety of drugs and medical devices, funds biomedical research and more.
Kennedy plans to cut 10,000 workers in addition to the thousands that have already been eliminated, cull the HHS’ divisions from 28 to 15 and cut its regional offices in half.
The reorganization, which sources expect to take effect at the end of May, has caused widespread anxiety among HHS staffers who still don’t know the fate of their jobs.
Notices to impacted employees were expected to come last Friday but still haven’t been issued.
Kennedy is reshaping the federal health workforce
Layoffs at HHS and its major subagencies
In a video posted to social media platform X on Thursday, Kennedy acknowledged the restructuring would be a “painful period” for the HHS, but would result in a more centralized and effective department. The cuts are expected to save the department $1.8 billion annually, and won’t affect any critical functions, Kennedy said.
But promises that HHS operations won’t be impacted are “total bullshit,” the CMS staffer said. “You’re not going to see an immediate impact. It’ll probably take a few months. But eventually the effects will become very apparent and very noticeable. But by that time the damage will have been done.”
