Officials at the Department of Health and Human Services agency say they are preparing for a sudden layoff as Chief Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his aides are approaching the final decision on a fundamental restructuring of the department.
A decision by Kennedy and his team about making and organisational changes to the department is expected within a week or two, several senior officials reported. One official said aides have begun drafting announcements for the reorganization.
The department did not respond to requests for comment.
In addition to the official head of the White House Government Efficiency Bureau team, Amy Gleesonseveral other members of Doge are HHS employees. Some are closely involved in the plan, including former insurance executive Brad Smith, who was a top Medicare and Medicaid employee during the first Trump administration.
The expected cuts in the sector under the restructuring and “force cuts” plan ordered by the White House come after many workers have already been fired and then fired or let go through other moves across health agencies across the nation Previous attempt Purge thousands Probational Workerends the Fellowship Program and ends the Contractor Agreement.
Here is the latest we know based on conversations with more than 12 health authorities who are not permitted to publicly speak about the reorganizations in several agencies within the HHS.
Healthcare Research and Quality Agent
The reduction in the workforce laid out by HHS and Doge officials for some senior leaders is unprecedented. Officials from Doge, a healthcare research and quality agency, one agency within HHS, told leaders on March 11 that they hope that up to 90% of their staff will be cut.
The agency has approximately 300 employees. Many are tasked with collecting and analyzing the federal government’s most widely cited metrics on health care, including decades-old datasets across the country that hospitals and health policy researchers rely on, as well as decades-old datasets that track emergency room visits.
AHRQ also works on many programs funded by Congress to address patient safety and health care accidents, such as programs aimed at combating antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
“The current staff are about 45 highly skilled economists and statisticians. Doge hopes to cut down to a total of six staff. The six people willing to stay under these conditions aren’t exactly the best.”
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, some managers are told to expect cuts handed over from the department as up to 30% of Atlanta-based agency staff could be let go.
Nearly 12,820 people were employed by the CDC at the end of last fiscal year, up from 10,487 in the final year of the first Trump administration, according to federal records.
“The 30% reduction is devastating. We already have staff shortages in many important areas, and the staff who barely put it together have been in various burnout stages for five years,” said a CDC official.
Some of these cuts may be achieved through employees who leave spontaneously. The agency manager was said to have around 400 workers seeking early retirement and about 600 have applied for the acquisition, two staff members said. The offer will be made This month’s entire HHS. It is unclear how many workers applied for both.
Other things can be achieved by relocating agency functions. One proposal that has been under pressure on officials will move the CDC HIV prevention work elsewhere in the department.
Food and Drug Administration
Unlike other health agencies, some groups of Food and Drug Administration workers were said to be unqualified to take up HHS. Acquisition offer.
This includes reviewers of new drug applications whose pay is primarily paid by fees paid by the fees paid by drug makers when seeking approval, rather than taxpayers.
Others at the agency are told to prepare for a layoff. The FDA manager tells employees that the loop is off-loop in the size and target of cuts inside.
Doge officials have visited multiple Maryland headquarters, one official said. Another said Doge officials were asking questions about the FDA lab this week.
Several FDA employees said they expect some of the cuts to be achieved through what is called the agency’s growing brain drain. One employee said hundreds of resignation applications were being processed by agents.
Employees said far more staff members work at the FDA than the homes are equipped with headquarters, robbing parking and overflowing office areas, and running out of toilet paper in busy bathrooms.
National Institutes of Health
From the National Institutes of Health workforce, officials hope to see cuts down to similar levels as seen at the end of the Trump administration.
Over 21,000 people were employed by medical research institutions at the end of fiscal year 2024, up from 17,705 at the end of fiscal year 2019.
Like other institutions, voluntary departures from scientists and other workers could compensate for some of the expected reductions. One said he heard at the meeting that about 1,400 people had asked for a buyout, early retirement, or both.
One said up to 3,800, if not more, could be cut from agency pay, depending on the number of staff they could count from departure.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Some suspect cuts at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, as they already faced job restrictions under the Biden administration.
The agency’s chief operating officer said that employment could only be resumed after a fiscal change later last year, HealthPolicy reported in November.
In 2024, the Baltimore-based agency had 6,557 employees, but in 2019 it rose slightly from a 6,074 workforce.
A CMS official said they heard internally that early retirements and acquisitions featured by some employees of the agency might not spare many of the agency’s remaining staff.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Management
Several workers at the Department of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services say they have heard nothing from agency leadership about potential cuts.
Some hope that a letter from House Democrats to Kennedy will report that half of agency staff could halt a sudden layoff.
Workers at the agency, which counted 916 workers at the end of last year, fell to a low of 521 employees at the end of the first Trump administration.
Earlier this year, a probation worker fired by Doge was already Over 10% Of agency staff being cut, including employees working on projects related to the 988 hotline for those facing a mental health crisis.
Dr. Gowner of Serene contributed to this report.
