The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) began laying off employees as part of a plan to reduce its workforce by 10,000 full-time jobs. The job cuts are being spearheaded by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, with the goal of shrinking the HHS workforce from 82,000 to 62,000. The layoffs have caused anxiety among employees, with notices not going out as planned last Friday but instead trickling out late Monday night and early Tuesday morning.
The job cuts will affect several agencies under HHS, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and the National Institutes of Health. Divisions working on HIV, minority health, and injury prevention, among others, are being heavily impacted. Some divisions, such as those focused on mine worker safety, are being eliminated entirely.
Additionally, the FDA’s top vaccine regulator, Dr. Peter Marks, was ousted on Friday, leading to concerns about the future of vaccine authorization and safety monitoring. The layoffs are part of a larger plan by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to reshape the federal public health infrastructure. Some lawmakers and public health advocates have criticized the sweeping cuts, questioning their impact on public health efforts. Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Patty Murray, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, have demanded more information and justification for the layoffs and restructuring.
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