Trump Administration Plans To Close HHS Legal Offices That Fight Fraud

LOADING ERROR LOADING The Trump administration plans to shut down a half dozen regional offices at the Department of Health and Human Services that work on everything from violations of nursing home safety standards to fraudulent hospital billing. During the call, Keveney said the department’s goal was to reduce staffing to 90% of its 2019 level, the sources told HuffPost, although they added he did not make clear whether closing the regional offices meant all staff in these offices would lose their jobs. An announcement that HHS posted online Tuesday explained the move “as part of the department’s ongoing efforts to advance the Secretary Kennedy’s mission to Make America Healthy Again.” This “consolidation,” the announcement said, “will provide the same geographic support for regional HHS offices at lower operating costs.” Sources who spoke to HuffPost were skeptical, as was Sam Bagenstos, who served as HHS general counsel during the Biden administration. “The lawyers in OGC’s regional offices are the ones who enforce rules protecting nursing home residents, children in Head Start, and other beneficiaries of HHS programs,” Bagenstos, who is a law professor at the University of Michigan, told HuffPost. On the internal phone call, the HHS sources said Keveney mentioned that the “high cost of real estate” was one reason the agency had chosen to close the offices.