Widespread Cuts at Federal Health Department Hit CDC, NIH, FDA

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. executed massive cuts across the US Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday, days after promising to drastically reduce the size of workforce responsible for health-care coverage, pharmaceuticals, domestic violence prevention, mental health, and pandemic preparedness.

Kennedy on March 27 laid out his restructure plan to cull 10,000 employees at the department in an effort, combined with earlier departures such as buyouts and early retirements, to shrink the health department to 62,000 workers from 82,000.

Employees began receiving reduction in force emails as early as 5 a.m., with cuts at the Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, and elsewhere.

Kennedy said last week the administration was “realigning the organization with its core mission and our new priorities in reversing the chronic disease epidemic.” In a video posted to the social media platform X on Tuesday, Kennedy said alongside his new NIH and FDA chiefs that “the revolution begins today.”

While the layoffs broadly hit employees working in communications, administrative services, and program management, several top leaders with years of institutional knowledge were among those cut.

Food and Drug Cuts

The FDA took steps to shed 3,500 positions, including employees in the Office of Management, Office of Regulatory Affairs, and acquisition offices, according to a source familiar with the matter. The cuts hit scientists, those working in lab safety, and the Freedom of Information Office.

Communications teams working with drugs, biologics, medical devices, and veterinary medicine that ensure information is disseminated to the public also were also reduced. The agency’s library staff was subject to cuts, according to a memo shared with Bloomberg Law.

Drug, medical device, food reviewers, and inspectors were to be spared, according to the HHS. Still, several top leaders across the agency were dismissed Tuesday.

Peter Stein, a top official who oversaw reviewers that evaluate new drugs, and Brian King, the agency’s chief tobacco regulator, were among those removed from their positions.

“The FDA as we’ve known it is finished, with most of the leaders with institutional knowledge and a deep understanding of product development and safety no longer employed,” former FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said in a Linkedin post. “I believe that history will see this [as] a huge mistake.”

Mental Health Office

As part of the restructure, several offices were consolidated into a new Administration for a Healthy America (AHA).

Among those laid off were leaders at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which is among the offices moved under AHA.

Anita Everett, director of SAMHSA’s Center for Mental Health Services, was one of the employees eliminated, according to an email reviewed by Bloomberg Law.

Maia Banks, a supervisory public health adviser for the office of the director at CMHS, was also let go, according to a person familiar with the move.

Trina Dutta, former SAMHSA chief of staff for the Biden administration, said in a LinkedIn post that she was “devastated for the hundreds of my SAMHSA colleagues who live and breathe the agency’s mission and who are being ‘re-organized’ out of their careers.”

Jennifer Hoenig, director of SAMHSA’s Office of Population Surveys, said on LinkedIn she and her entire team were cut.

Also among the SAMHSA cuts were the bulk of the Office of Behavioral Health Equity, and National Mental Health and Substance Use Policy Lab, along with regional offices, a person familiar with the matter said. They also noted that the human resources department faced cuts, leaving leadership confused about where to take HR matters.

The majority of the federal staff for the Social Service Block Grant team was also cut, according to another person familiar with the RIFs. Those grants are meant to help people achieve economic self-sufficiency, cut down on “inappropriate institutionalization,” and stop adult and child exploitation.

Other cuts included the entire staff of Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which provides assistance to reduce home energy costs, the person said.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the federal agency that provides health coverage to more than 160 million people, laid off employees working in contract support, policy oversight, business operations and communications, minority health, and equal opportunity and civil rights, according to a source familiar with the matter. The agency is slated to shed 300 positions.

Diseases and Research

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention planned to decrease its workforce by approximately 2,400 employees, according to a March 27 HHS fact sheet, with a focus “on returning to its core mission of preparing for and responding to epidemics and outbreaks.”

The CDC on Tuesday terminated dozens of researchers studying how to prevent child abuse and sexual violence, according to a senior CDC official. It cut the team that funds rape and sexual violence prevention programs nationwide. The team that collects injury data was also eliminated, according to a senior CDC executive.

The NIH was slated to decrease its workforce by approximately 1,200 employees.

The cuts at NIH took aim at the agency’s leadership, including Jeanne Marrazzo, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who succeeded Anthony Fauci.

The RIFs also included NIH staff working in science policy and communications and records management, according to an agency employee who was granted anonymity to speak freely.

Molly Klote, director of the HHS Office for Human Research Protections, was also dismissed, according to a source familiar with the matter. That office provides guidance on issues related to biomedical and behavioral research.

As broad and far-reaching as Tuesday’s cuts were, some employees still worry the reductions are not done.

A person familiar with the layoffs noted that employees at the NIH’s National Cancer Institute were bracing for potential further layoffs later Tuesday or Wednesday, with agency leadership unable to get confirmation.