The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) began mass layoffs Tuesday, April 1, slashing up to 10,000 jobs in what’s shaping into the most dramatic restructuring of the agency in modern history. A full 20% of HHS staff—cutting the department from 82,000 to 62,000—are being let go. The FDA, CDC, NIH, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) were hit hardest. “We’re notifying employees today—starting now,” an HHS spokesperson told
The breakdown:
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FDA: 3,500 jobs gone
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CDC: 2,400
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NIH: 1,200
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CMS: 300
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More cuts expected soon
Some employees didn’t even get a face-to-face—just a cold email placing them on “administrative leave,” effective immediately. “I found out from my phone while eating lunch,” one FDA lab tech said through tears. “No warning. Just gone.”
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. unveiled the plan just five days ago, on March 27, calling HHS a “bloated mess” that spends $1.7 trillion a year with little to show. In a video still looping inside agency lobbies, Kennedy promised to “make America healthy again” by cutting divisions, collapsing agencies, and replacing red tape with what he’s calling the Administration for a Healthy America (AHA).
By the numbers:
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28 divisions reduced to 15
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2,500 staff reassigned to AHA
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Regional HHS offices cut from 10 to 5
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The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development—gone
One NIH staffer told STAT some colleagues were told to relocate to Alaska by tomorrow or lose their jobs.
Outside FDA headquarters in Silver Spring, workers were seen carrying boxes Tuesday morning. Some cried. Others stood silent, stunned. “It’s devastating—we’re all guessing who’s next,” a CDC disease tracker in Atlanta said. Teams monitoring flu outbreaks, she added, “got wiped out.”
According to ABC7NY, employees were escorted out under security watch. The delay between Kennedy’s video and today’s actual terminations created chaos—some only learned they were out from news reports, not their managers, per Politico.
The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) is preparing to sue. “They’re gutting expertise,” union president Doreen Greenwald told NBC News. “3,500 FDA layoffs means slower drug approvals—maybe unsafe food gets through.” Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) posted: “HHS is the Department of Disease now—lives are at stake.” Even Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) admitted on ABC: “We don’t know how bad it’ll get—we’ll patch it up later.”
It’s part of President Trump’s government reboot, driven by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—led by Elon Musk. Trump eliminated federal union bargaining rights last week, clearing a legal path for these cuts. HHS already approved 10,000 early retirements in March. Now, the layoffs seal the deal.
The hits go beyond D.C.:
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$11 billion in COVID-19 funds yanked last week
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Houston lost 50 local health jobs
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Utah, 20
Kennedy has long vowed to dismantle what he calls “junk science” factories at CDC and NIH. Now, he’s executing.
HHS insists Medicare and Medicaid’s $1.8 trillion machine won’t stall, but health policy expert Larry Levitt of KFF told STAT: “You can’t lose 20% of your workforce and not drop balls. Patients will wait longer. Services will suffer.”
With 10,000 layoffs rolling out now and another 10,000 by May 27, the agency meant to protect public health is now bracing for its own crisis.