As they prepared to leave work on Monday, some employees at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) were instructed to pack their laptops and get ready for the possibility that they might not return. This message came in an email, signaling uncertainty for many of the approximately 82,000 workers across the nation’s public health agencies who were anxiously awaiting news about potential layoffs.
The mass job cuts had been anticipated following an announcement from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who revealed plans for a major reorganization that would eliminate around 20,000 positions, with 10,000 of those coming from direct layoffs. The email advised staff to monitor their inboxes for notices regarding job eliminations, which would also terminate their access to government facilities.
Kennedy has been vocal about his criticism of the department, calling it an inefficient “sprawling bureaucracy” and arguing that its $1.7 trillion annual budget has not effectively improved the health of Americans. His proposed changes include streamlining operations and merging agencies, such as combining the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration into a new entity called the Administration for a Healthy America.
Experts have raised concerns about the lack of transparency surrounding the decision-making process. A former official who served during both the Bush and Obama administrations and now works as a health policy adviser questioned the depth of the analysis behind these cuts. “It’s not quite clear from a transparency perspective how they got from where they were to here,” he said.
On Friday, several federal health employees involved in controlling infectious diseases were informed that they would be placed on leave. Reports indicate that the Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy experienced significant staff reductions that night. Some employees shared on LinkedIn that the office was nearly empty, and a public health expert revealed that all staff had been asked to leave. The expert, speaking anonymously, expressed concerns about the future of public health efforts in the wake of these changes.
Additionally, several advisory committees, including the National Vaccine Advisory Committee and others focused on HIV/AIDS response, have had their meetings canceled. A former chair of the National Vaccine Advisory Committee warned that these disruptions could jeopardize critical public health initiatives.
An official from the Department of Health and Human Services clarified that the office is not being shut down but is instead undergoing consolidation to reduce redundancies.
Further cuts are also being felt at the state and local levels, as the department recently pulled back more than $11 billion in COVID-19-related funding. Local health departments are still evaluating the full impact, but some have already identified hundreds of job losses, with some positions disappearing almost overnight. “Some of them are already gone,” said the CEO of the National Association of County and City Health Officials.