The cuts are across the agency, including the Division of Violence Prevention, equal employment opportunity, open records law compliance, the Office of Financial Resources, the offices of the chief information and chief operating officers, and more, according to union officials.
The cuts were expected after U.S. District Judge Melissa R. DuBose, a Biden appointee, scaled back the scope of an initial ruling finding broad layoffs unlawful.
DuBose specified that certain subagencies and programs were blocked off from layoffs, including the National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention; the Division of Reproductive Health; and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
This left unnamed subagencies open to layoffs.
An HHS spokesperson confirmed the layoffs when contacted by The Hill, noting the staff reductions are the final piece of the process that began in March as part of President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency executive order.
The AFGE blasted the timing of the firings, taking place so soon after the fatal shooting that occurred at the CDC’s offices in Atlanta.
“HHS [Department of Health and Human Services] has shown that it does not have the organizational or operational capacity to take over the support functions that the agency had before these firings. This reduction in force was operationally a mess. They have shown they are in no way prepared to support CDC when America needs it most,” the union said in a statement.
The firings add to the anger among HHS employees, who say Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has undermined their work with his rhetoric against vaccines and public health workers.
More than 750 current and former employees sent Kennedy a letter on Wednesday calling on him to stop “spreading inaccurate health information” and do more to protect public health professionals in the wake of the shooting.
