Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, AGENCY NEWS—Large scale HHS firings begin, members of Congress demand answers, (Apr 2, 2025)
Letters expressing concerns about federal health programs and asking for responses to detailed questions over HHS changes were sent to HHS Secretary Kennedy.
HHS began mass firings on Tuesday, April 1, with some of the 10,000 total expected laid off employees receiving notice. The reorganization of HHS, along with the number of employees expected to lose their jobs, was announced last week. The FDA, National Institutes of Health (NIH), the CDC, and other smaller agencies, such as the Administration for Community Living, were reportedly most impacted by the initial action, with entire teams at times dismissed. The HHS firings resulted in swift reaction by members of Congress, along with an invitation for HHS Secretary Kennedy to appear before a Congressional committee about the reorganization.
On the same day that the firings began, Sens. Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt), ranking member of the HELP Committee, sent a letter to HHS Secretary Kennedy inviting him to participate in a HELP Committee hearing on April 10 on the reorganization of HHS. “Your actions continue to show a reckless disregard for the health and well-being of American families, most significantly for underserved communities... Thousands of federal workers across the country have been fired at the direction of Elon Musk and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), only to be asked to return, either because their firings were illegal or because HHS later determined the work they perform is essential.” The senators ask for detailed information on the number of HHS workers fired since January 20, and the analysis of how these firings will impact health services.
In the House of Representatives, Democratic members of the Committee on Energy and Commerce also sent a letter to Secretary Kennedy. The slowing of FDA efforts was noted, “Some HHS operating divisions are already struggling to maintain efficiency and quality after the February DOGE-led cuts. At the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), for example, scientists now have double the number of product applications to review as a result of those terminations, and the pace of review of new drug applications has slowed significantly.” The members also require that Secretary Kennedy provide written answers to requests for: a detailed list of the roles being eliminated across HHS, the names of the five regional offices that will be closed, and information on which operating divisions will be eliminated or consolidated, along with the reasoning and supporting documentation on all of those decisions. Fact sheets circulating at HHS are also requested. The members argue, “These layoffs and hastily concocted plans to restructure HHS will harm all Americans who rely on the expertise and efforts of staff across HHS for safe and effective medical products, for the delivery of essential healthcare services, and for the protection of public health and the advancement of biomedical research.”
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