Days After Mass Layoffs, HHS Expects To Reinstate 20% Of Fired Employees

The Hill: Kennedy Suggests 20 Percent Of HHS Cuts May Be Reversed
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that he expects about 20 percent of fired employees to be reinstated as the agency backtracks after making cuts directed by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). “Some programs that were cut, they’re being reinstated,” Kennedy told reporters Thursday. “Personnel that should not have been cut were cut. We’re reinstating them.” (Irwin, 4/3)

The Washington Post: FDA Is Looking For Laid-Off Employees To Work During Fallout Of Firings
On Tuesday, thousands of Food and Drug Administration workers were laid off. They were shut out from the government offices where they had worked and placed on administrative leave until June 2. But just hours after employees were shown the door, Barclay Butler, the agency’s new chief operating officer, asked top FDA officials to identify employees to keep working for the next two months, according to an email obtained by The Washington Post. It appears, according to the email, that the agency needed laid-off employees to help transition as it was shedding workers. (Roubein, 4/3)

The Hill: HHS Staff To Brief House Committee Following Massive Agency Layoffs
House Democrats on the Energy and Commerce committee are demanding a hearing with Health and Human Services Secretary (HHS) Robert F Kennedy Jr. about the massive layoffs happening at his agency. But so far, GOP leadership has committed to a staff-level briefing only, according to a spokesperson for Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.). Health subcommittee ranking member Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) in a statement Thursday said a staff briefing isn’t enough. (Weixel, 4/3)

More on the HHS layoffs —

Politico: Which Jobs Were Cut At CDC? Here’s A List
The layoffs at CDC this week hit global and environmental health as well as HIV prevention programs especially hard, according to an overview document obtained by POLITICO. The document, shared during an agency meeting Tuesday, paints a picture of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that will be more narrowly focused on infectious disease, with a significantly less holistic view of public health. The job cuts include the elimination of about a fourth of the staff at the National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention and about a third of the workers at the CDC’s Injury Center. (Gardner, 4/3)

CBS News: RFK Jr. Cuts CDC Labs Investigating Outbreaks Of STDs And Hepatitis
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has eliminated the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's laboratories for sexually transmitted diseases and hepatitis, multiple officials tell CBS News, disrupting ongoing work to respond to outbreaks. Lab staff were informed this week of the cuts as part of the 10,000 layoffs done around the Department of Health and Human Services. Within the agency, officials are now warning of delays and disruptions to testing as a result. (Tin, 4/3)

Stat: Advisory Panel On Ethical, Legal Issues In Human Health Research Disbanded
A committee of experts that advises the Department of Health and Human Services on emerging ethical and legal issues in human health research has been disbanded, according to an email obtained by STAT. (Molteni and Silverman, 4/3)

The New York Times: Entire Staff Is Fired at Office That Helps Poorer Americans Pay for Heating
The Trump administration has abruptly laid off the entire staff running a $4.1 billion program to help low-income households across the United States pay their heating and cooling bills. The firings threaten to paralyze the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which was created by Congress in 1981 and helps to offset high utility bills for roughly 6.2 million people from Maine to Texas during frigid winters and hot summers. (Plumer, 4/2)

Stat: Maternal Mental Health, Tobacco Hotlines In Limbo After HHS Cuts
Hotlines that have fielded millions of calls from people — including new mothers — looking for mental health support or to quit smoking are in limbo after federal officials fired the workers who oversaw them. (Cueto, 4/3)

KFF Health News: DOGE Job Cuts Hit Federal Workers’ Finances And Mental Health
Federal workers are feeling demoralized and anxious as the Department of Government Efficiency slashes tens of thousands of jobs. Federal employment used to carry the promise of job security and an opportunity to serve the nation. But in recent weeks, uncertainty may be the most defining characteristic of being a federal worker. The stress is felt especially in Washington, D.C., where nearly 50,000 people work for the federal government. (Pradhan, 4/4)

KFF Health News: KFF Health News’ ‘What The Health?’: American Health Gets A Pink Slip
The Department of Health and Human Services underwent an unprecedented purge this week, as thousands of employees from the National Institutes of Health, the FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other agencies were fired, placed on administrative leave, or offered transfers to far-flung Indian Health Service facilities. Altogether, the layoffs mean the federal government, in a single day, shed hundreds if not thousands of combined years of health and science expertise. (Rovner, 4/3)

Also —

MedPage Today: Over 350K Health Workers Face Deportation Risk
More than 350,000 noncitizen healthcare workers in the U.S. may be at risk of deportation as part of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, researchers estimated. Based on the Current Population Survey (CPS) from March 2024, there were over 20 million individuals making up the workforce across formal and informal healthcare settings nationwide, of whom an estimated 16.7 million were U.S.-born citizens, 2.3 million naturalized citizens, nearly 700,000 documented noncitizens, and over 366,500 undocumented immigrants. (Lou, 4/3)