Trump Admin Makes Deep Cuts at HHS, Public Health Agencies

The Department of Health and Human Services laid off thousands of employees Tuesday, including several senior leaders, The Washington Post, the Associated Press and other outlets reported. 

The layoffs hit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and other agencies at the department. All told, about 10,000 employees received notice of reductions in force, according to the Post, including “biomedical scientists, staff who respond to freedom of information requests and researchers who work to improve patient safety.”

Meanwhile, other senior leaders were reassigned to Indian Health Services and other agencies. They include Jeanne Marrazzo, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Peter Stein, head of the FDA’s Office of New Drugs, according to the Post. At the CDC, senior leaders working on “global health, infectious diseases, chronic disease, HIV, sexually transmitted disease, tuberculosis, outbreak forecasting and information technology” were reassigned.

“CDC clobbered,” an unnamed official told the Post. “The agency will not be able to function.”

Former officials from other agencies also warned about the consequences of the mass layoffs. 

“The FDA as we’ve known it is finished, with most of the leaders with institutional knowledge and a deep understanding of product development and safety no longer employed,” former FDA commissioner Robert Califf wrote on social media.

The Associated Press reported that the NIH has 27 institutions; the directors of four were put on administrative leave.

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote on social media that his department “needs to be recalibrated to emphasize prevention, not just sick care. These changes will not affect Medicare, Medicaid, or other essential health services.”