Since Trump’s return as president, the Elon Musk-helmed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been making cuts to US Government departments, beginning with the culling of employees at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in February. Now, the US Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) is on the chopping block.
Under plans outlined by HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy, Jr (RFK Jr), thousands of employees at the health agencies under the HHS received notices on 1 April that their .
Last week, under a transformation plan touted to 鈥楳ake America Healthy Again鈥�, the White House revealed plans to cut around 10,000 employees from HHS departments, including the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The Trump administration estimated that the cuts, including retirements and voluntary resignations, would result in a culling of the combined agencies鈥� workforce from 82,000 full-time employees to 62,000.
Notable names that have departed the agencies include Peter Marks, the FDA鈥檚 top vaccine official who chose to tender his resignation rather than face being fired. Effective 5 April, his resignation letter to Sara Brenner, acting commissioner of the FDA, emphasised the value of scientific truth and the hazards of misinformation.
Addressing the Texas measles outbreak in his letter, Marks said it 鈥渞eminds us of what happens when confidence in well-established science underlying public health and well-being is undermined鈥�. This is likely a reference to RFK Jr鈥檚 initial views on the matter, not to mention his various anti-vaccination remarks over the years, which include the .
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By GlobalDataWhile RFK Jr has since called the 鈥渟erious鈥�, the HHS secretary initially after an unvaccinated child died from the virus in West Texas. RFK Jr has also suggested that may prove a suitable alternative treatment to measles than a vaccine.
According to reports, Peter Stein, director of the Office of New Drugs in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research division and an individual considered by many to be the world鈥檚 top drug regulator, also chose to resign.
Severe fallout
The fallout of such deep cuts, ranging from the most well-known agencies under the HHS to smaller departments that still provide immense value in their respective fields, is hard to predict.
Commenting on the situation, former FDA commissioner Robert Califf wrote in a post to Linkedin that with most of the leaders with institutional knowledge and a deep understanding of product development and safety no longer employed, the 鈥淔DA as we’ve known it is finished鈥�.
鈥淚 believe that history will see this a huge mistake,鈥� wrote Califf. 鈥淚 will be glad if I’m proven wrong, but even then, there is no good reason to treat people this way.鈥�
According to Dr Andrew S Thompson, director of therapy research and analysis in medical devices for GlobalData, 鈥渃haos鈥� and the rise of contractors as 鈥渁 means of staffing functions鈥� could be the result of the HHS job cuts, which in effect will likely mean 鈥渘o money actually saved鈥�.
鈥淚t鈥檚 how the [US] Department of Defence (DoD) has been run for years, in effect,鈥� Thompson said.
鈥淏ut it means government might become more responsive to changes in demand. That鈥檚 the theory. If I look at defence, that means a handful of companies become providers of a workforce.鈥�
鈥淚’m expecting lots of failed experiments to see how many functions could be replaced with AI.鈥�
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) national president Everett Kelley lambasted the HHS agency cuts, branding them 鈥渄angerous, irresponsible, and unacceptable鈥�.
Kelley commented: 鈥淐utting 10,000 critical public health jobs puts every American at risk 鈥� weakening our defences against disease outbreaks, unsafe medications, and contaminated food.
鈥淐ongress and citizens must join us in pushing back. Our health, safety, and security depend on a strong, fully staffed public health system.鈥�
In a similar vein, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) maligned the job cuts, stating that 鈥� of protecting Americans from infectious diseases amid this chaos and confusion鈥� and concluding that the actions were 鈥渃ounter鈥� to the goal of keeping America healthy.
Although Bill Cassidy, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and ranking member senator Bernie Sanders, have calling on RFK Jr to testify on 10 April about the 鈥榩roposed reorganisation鈥� of the HHS, the job cuts – for now – look set to be permanent.
