As part of massive cutbacks at the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will shut down their civil rights office in June, according to an email sent to staff on Monday and viewed by Politico.
HHS has already been reduced by some 20% as part of overall downsizing, with Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and President Donald Trump focusing on eliminating those programs and agencies they say promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.
CMS' Office of Equal Opportunity and Civil Rights develops compliance policy for those who work their and advises agency leadership on the promotion of those rights.
Complaints that are nearing completion connected to workplace harassment and discrimination will be closed out in the coming weeks, and remaining complaints will be "transferred to an appropriate entity," the email stated.