OAN Staff James Meyers
10:27 AM – Tuesday, April 1, 2025
Employees across the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services began receiving notices of dismissal on Tuesday in a drastic change that will lay off close to 10,000 people.
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The recent job cuts come on top of 10,000 employees who have left voluntarily, shrinking the workforce from close to 82,000 full-time employees to 62,000.
The cuts are part of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s plan to overhaul the U.S. health agency.
Some of the employees found out they had been let go when they arrived at work Tuesday morning and discovered their security badges had been disabled. Others waited in long lines to get into their buildings amid the delays and confusion.
Additionally, the notices come just days after President Donald Trump moved to strip workers of their collective bargaining rights at HHS and other agencies throughout the government.
“This [reduction in force] action does not reflect directly on your service, performance or conduct,” according to one email to a US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staff member that was obtained by CNN. The email, sent by Thomas J. Nagy Jr., deputy assistant secretary for human resources at HHS, said the person would be placed on administrative leave and would no longer have access to the building as of Tuesday.
The plan would combine agencies that oversee billions of dollars for addiction services and community health centers across America under a new office called the Administration for a Healthy America.
Meanwhile, it’s currently unknown as to how many employees have officially been let go as of Tuesday morning. The layoffs are expected to be cut down to 62,000 positions, cutting off almost a quarter of its staff. Ten-thousand jobs have been slashed through layoffs, along with an additional 10,000 workers who took early retirement and voluntary separation offers.
Democrat opposition said there would be serious ramifications due to the cuts when natural disasters hit or harmful diseases.
“They may as well be renaming it the Department of Disease because their plan is putting lives in serious jeopardy,” Democrat Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said Friday during a call with reporters.
Moreover, cuts are expected at the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, or NIOSH, as part of the HHS restructuring, according to CBS News.
Additional layoffs are expected at state and local health departments as a result of an HHS move last week to pull back over $11 billion in COVID-19-related funds.
Furthermore, Union reps for HHS employees received a notice last week that between 8,000 to 10,000 employees will be terminated. The department’s leadership will go after positions in various departments including human resources, finance, and information technology. Positions in “high cost regions” or that have been deemed “redundant” will be the focus of the layoffs.
Kennedy stated in a Thursday video announcing the restructuring, and said the department’s $1.7 trillion yearly budget, “has failed to improve the health of Americans.”
“I want to promise you now that we’re going to do more with less,” Kennedy said.
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