The Department of Health and Human Services’ regional office in downtown San Francisco will close and relocate its operations to Denver by early May as part of a national restructuring plan, Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s office told Politico.
The San Francisco HHS office is located in the Speaker Nancy Pelosi Federal Building. Around 318 federal employees work there, administering programs related to Medicaid, Medicare, and drug addiction treatment. Most of these workers could lose their jobs due to the restructuring effort under the Department of Government Efficiency’s initiative to reduce the federal workforce, Pelosi’s office said.
The move appears to be the latest escalation in the fierce rivalry between Pelosi and President Donald Trump. It comes after an executive order called for drastic cuts to the Presidio Trust, which Pelosi founded. Last month, a Native American tribe appealed to Trump to return the site to its custody.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced last week that the office closures are designed to reduce “bureaucratic sprawl” and save $1.8 billion annually by eliminating approximately 10,000 agency positions. The department is closing five regional offices nationwide and consolidating operations into five larger regional hubs.
Pelosi criticized the decision, saying it would “jeopardize the safety and well-being of millions of people — not just in California, but across the western U.S.” She expressed particular concern about the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program and other initiatives that provide treatment to low-income patients.
“This shortsighted office closure would lead to critical service slowdowns for San Franciscans to get the resources they need and detrimental impacts to our public health response capabilities,” the former House speaker said in a statement, “all in the name of so-called ‘government efficiency.'”
The San Francisco closure is part of a series of changes affecting federal operations in the city under the Trump administration.