Here are five things to know:
1. Some of the affected employees include those who conduct ACA exchange oversights and evaluate medical device safety, according to email memos obtained by Bloomberg. The HHS Administration for Children and Families, which funds Head Start Programs and child care, also saw cuts, though the extent of the cuts remains unclear.
NBC News reported Feb. 13 that 1,300 CDC probationary employees — around 10% of the agency’s workforce — were also part of the cuts. However, a current CDC staffer told NPR that the cuts affected around 750 employees.
Emails titled “Read this email immediately” informed employees they were placed on administrative leave with four weeks’ pay. The emails were signed by HHS acting human resources head Jeffrey Anoka and stated that the employees were “not fit for continued employment because your ability, knowledge and skills do not fit the agency’s current needs, and your performance has not been adequate to justify further employment at the agency.”
2. On Feb. 13, the Trump administration ordered almost all of the 5,200 HHS probationary employees to be cut. An NIH office director said during a department meeting recording, obtained by the The Associated Press, that some probationary employees with specialized skills might be retained. Affected employees were notified via email on the afternoon of Feb. 13. Many probationary employees are people who have worked for the federal government for about one to two years, before gaining civil service protections. Some probationary employees are veteran staffers who may have been recently promoted, according to the AP.
3. Leadership at the CDC was notified of the layoffs in a verbal HHS notice during a Feb. 14 meeting. Employees affected by the layoffs should receive four weeks of paid administrative leave; however, it was not made clear when the notices would be received, the AP reported.
“HHS is following the Administration’s guidance and taking action to support the President’s broader efforts to restructure and streamline the federal government,” a spokesperson for HHS said in a Feb. 14 statement shared with Becker’s. “This is to ensure that HHS better serves the American people at the highest and most efficient standard.”
4. On Feb. 12, the White House gave a deadline for the deferred resignation program, which offered buyouts for federal employees to receive pay and benefits through September, according to CBS News. In early February, The Wall Street Journal reported that the White House was working on an order to cut thousands of probationary HHS jobs, including at the CDC and FDA.
On Feb. 13, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was confirmed as HHS secretary in a 52-48 Senate vote. HHS employs more than 80,000 people, according to its website.
5. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper denied labor unions’ bid Feb. 20 to block the Trump administration from moving forward with federal agency layoffs, NBC News reported. While Mr. Cooper expressed sympathy to the National Treasury Employees Union and four other unions in his ruling, he determined that the lawsuit was not a federal court fit and should instead go before the Federal Labor Relations Authority, which handles federal labor disputes.
“NTEU fails to establish that it is likely to succeed on the merits because this Court likely lacks subject matter jurisdiction over the claims it asserts,” Mr. Cooper said in the order, obtained by NBC News. “The Court will therefore deny the unions’ motion for a temporary restraining order and, for the same reasons, deny their request for a preliminary injunction.”
Becker’s has reached out to the CDC, the NIH and the White House for more information and will update this story should more information become available.
