HHS moves $12 million from minority health office to fund Kennedy's security

Previous HHS secretaries’ security cost about $5 million a year

The Department of Health and Human Services informed congressional appropriators earlier this year that it was reallocating about $12 million from its Office of Minority Health to help cover the cost of security for Kennedy, according to people familiar with the matter and a document reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. People familiar with the matter said the secretary’s office has a large pot of discretionary money that could have been tapped, but that HHS cut $12 million from the minority health office — rather than just the $7 million represented by increased security costs — because the secretary’s office has been subject to across-the-board budget cuts.

Kennedy, whose father and uncle were assassinated in the 1960s, has seen his security costs grow from roughly $10 million in fiscal year 2025 to $17 million in fiscal year 2026, some of the people familiar with the matter said. When Kennedy first started at HHS, the department’s Office of the Inspector General staffed up to prepare to protect him, but shortly after he opted for protection by the U.S. Marshals Service, people familiar with the matter said. A handful of cabinet-level figures in past decades have received a security detail from the marshals, a division of the Justice Department. Former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos received a protective detail from U.S. Marshals after she received threats in the first Trump administration.

Previous HHS secretaries were protected by agents in the HHS inspector general’s office, and their security cost roughly $5 million a year, according to people familiar with the matter.

“Secretary Kennedy faces a security environment that differs significantly from that of previous HHS secretaries,” Hilliard said. “His protection reflects the threats he faces, his extensive travel, and the security required for him to safely carry out his duties nationwide.”

The department’s 2027 budget request asks for an additional $14 million increase for “enhanced physical security of HHS Headquarters and its staff.”

The Office of Minority Health was created under former President Ronald Reagan after a landmark report found that Black infants in the U.S. were more likely than white babies to die and that Black life expectancy was shorter, among other disparities. The office has funded research and efforts to close those gaps, which have persisted. Its annual budget has been roughly $74 million.

HHS notified 16 nonprofits and universities in August that grants from the Office of Minority Health had been canceled, saying in letters to nonprofits that the cancellations were due to “limited” funding and new priorities. The department said the office was now focusing spending on “the root causes of infertility and reproductive health conditions” — including “low sperm count” and “erectile dysfunction” — as well as promoting physical activity, and that the grants did not further those priorities. The Washington Sun earlier reported the minority health grant cancellations.

According to a government database, the department in the last year spent about $9 million on the 16 grant programs in total. The grants aimed at providing fresh vegetables, chronic-disease screenings, at-home nurse visits for new mothers and other preventive care to low-income populations.

HHS spokeswoman Hilliard said the grant cuts “reflect HHS priorities and programmatic assessments — not the Secretary’s security needs.” The Trump administration has sought to pare back grants it views as related to diversity initiatives, and in earlier budget requests has sought to shrink funding for the office by 40%.

Someone with Kennedy’s profile would require a large number of security personnel, former U.S. Marshals employees said. The total security bill would increase with more frequent travel, they said. Kennedy in the past year has traveled to congressional districts where Republicans are facing tight races.

Kennedy is typically flanked by bodyguards in public. He stopped speaking at outdoor events last year after a man wearing a bike helmet rushed toward him outside of a health clinic in Alaska. The man came within roughly 20 feet of Kennedy before he was tackled by security. The man, who said he was protesting the war in Gaza, did not face immediate charges, according to local news reports at the time and a Fairbanks, Alaska, police department spokeswoman.

U.S. Marshals typically protect Supreme Court justices and other federal judges and prosecutors. The marshals have protected some drug czars in prior administrations, according to the former U.S. Marshals employees.