HHS Formally Lays Off Employees Following Supreme Court Ruling

July 14, 2025, 10:21 PM UTC

The US Department of Health and Human Services officially laid off employees on Monday, following an order from the Supreme Court on July 8 that allowed its restructuring plans to proceed, according to emails viewed by Bloomberg.

Many employees who were supposed to be released during the agency’s first round of 10,000 layoffs in April have been in limbo as the effort made its way through the court system and was paused by federal judges. The reorganization, in addition to cutting staff, was supposed to consolidate the department’s 28 divisions into 15 and cut regional offices from 10 to five.

“Given the Supreme Court’s ruling, HHS is now permitted to move forward with a portion” of its reduction in force, according to an email some employees received around 5 p.m. from the HHS Office of Human Resources. “Accordingly you are hereby notified that you are officially separated from HHS at the close of business on July 14, 2025.”

Read More: Supreme Court Lets Trump Continue Education Department Layoffs

It was unclear how many employees had received the emails, or their departments.

The layoffs at HHS still face some legal hurdles. A federal judge in Rhode Island paused reorganizations at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration’s tobacco center, the Office of Head Start and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, a relatively small slice of HHS’ overall staff.

The Supreme Court also let the Department of Education proceed with cutting as many as 1,400 employees.

A HHS spokesperson said all employees who were previously laid off on April 1 have now been officially separated from the agency, except those affected by the Rhode Island judge’s order. The spokesperson declined to comment on the number of people who received notices on Monday.

To contact the reporters on this story:
Rachel Cohrs Zhang in Washington at rzhang698@bloomberg.net;
Nyah Phengsitthy in Arlington at nphengsitthy@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Cynthia Koons at ckoons@bloomberg.net

Michelle Fay Cortez, Catherine Larkin

© 2025 Bloomberg L.P. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

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