President Donald Trump is gutting health services in the country with massive layoffs. The Trump administration carried out mass layoffs across the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Tuesday, expected to slash 10,000 full-time jobs from the federal agencies long tasked with regulating food and drugs and overseeing the nation’s public health policies.
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is apparently trying to eliminate at least 20,000 jobs from the HHS. Many current and former staffers spoke to NBC News on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak to the media.
READ: Health tech startup Soma Lab is scaling education and hiring with AI (November 18, 2024)
Many agencies within HHS are headquartered in Maryland, including the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, the Food and Drug Administration, the Health Resources Services Administration, the Indian Health Service, the National Center for Health Statistics, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Maryland’s Comptroller Brooke E. Lierman issued a statement on April 2, in response to the layoffs:
“The Trump Administration’s continued firings of federal workers are an affront to their years of public service and dedication to our country. These employees – many of them Marylanders – contribute not only to our nation, but also to their communities and to our state. Firing these workers does not create efficiencies. Instead, it will result in a nation that is more at risk, less healthy, and less prepared to address our national and global public health needs. The Trump Administration’s idea of efficiency is giving the American people a government that doesn’t function or provide the core services and protections that citizens expect.
Maryland has long been proud of our partnership with the federal government, and thousands of HHS employees call Maryland home. Not only will these firings injure the nation and these workers, but Maryland will also face negative economic consequences and decreased revenues to provide services. I applaud the continued push by Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown against these unnecessary actions by President Trump and DOGE.”
What is the HHS?
The HHS stands for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It’s a federal government department responsible for protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, particularly for those who are least able to help themselves.
The HHS oversees a wide range of programs and services, including:
1. Public Health: Promoting health and well-being through programs like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
2. Medical Research: Through agencies like the National Institutes of Health (NIH), HHS funds and conducts medical research to improve health outcomes.
3. Social Services: Includes programs like Medicare (health insurance for the elderly), Medicaid (health coverage for low-income individuals), and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
4. Health Policy and Regulations: The Office for Civil Rights within HHS enforces health privacy rules (such as HIPAA) and nondiscrimination policies.
The HHS plays a crucial role in shaping healthcare policy, ensuring the safety of food and drugs, and managing services for vulnerable populations.
READ: New UCLA Health program for South Asian heart health (April 1, 2025)
It is being reported that these mass layoffs come as a part of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s plan to restructure the federal public health infrastructure. Kennedy is famously against the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), even running a failed presidential campaign on the promise of severely limiting both these agencies. When combined with voluntary departures, layoffs at the HHS are expected to reduce its workforce from 82,000 to 62,000.
“It’s a terrible dark day,” a CDC staffer told the NBC news.