US government begins mass layoffs at health agencies

The cuts, which affect several key agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), are part of a broader plan by President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk to shrink the size of the government and cut spending.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shared about the layoffs on social media.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the cuts — combined with earlier departures — would reduce the total number of employees from 82,000 to 62,000, which he described as necessary to streamline the bloated bureaucracy.

But the layoffs have affected many leading scientists in the fields of public health, cancer research, and vaccine and drug approval, raising concerns about the US’s ability to respond to health emergencies, including the ongoing measles outbreak and the spread of avian flu.

“We feel sorry for the people who are losing their jobs. But the reality is that what we’re doing isn’t working,” Secretary Kennedy said on the X platform, saying the changes are necessary to keep HHS focused on its core mission of preventing chronic disease.

At the world's top drug regulator, the FDA, director of the Office of New Drugs in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Peter Stein, resigned on Tuesday amid the threat of being fired, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Brian King, head of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products, was also fired, according to an email he sent to FDA employees. Earlier, Peter Marks, the FDA's top vaccine official, was also fired.

"The FDA as we know it no longer exists, with most of the leadership with deep knowledge of product development and safety now gone," former FDA Commissioner Robert Califf wrote on LinkedIn.

Cao Phong (according to WH, Reuters, CNN)

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