Reuters: Trump administration begins mass layoffs in healthcare facilities

The administration of the US President Donald Trump has begun laying off employees of major US health agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Sources told Reuters about this.

The cuts, which also affect the National Institutes of Health, are part of a broader plan by Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk to slash federal agencies and departments. In total, about 10 000 people are expected to be cut from the health care sector.

The US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called the cuts to the CDC and FDA necessary to “streamline bloated bureaucracy”. But the cuts, including previous layoffs, have led to the departure of top scientists from key agencies in health care, cancer research, and drug oversight, raising concerns about how the US will safely oversee the health care sector and respond to emergencies.

Peter Stein, director of the FDAʼs Center for Drug Evaluation and Researchʼs Division of New Drugs, resigned Tuesday after facing dismissal, according to one of the sources.

Brian King, head of the FDAʼs Center for Tobacco Products, was also fired — Reuters obtained a letter that King sent to his subordinates.

The firings of King and Stein join senior leadership resignations across the FDA. There are also staff layoffs, with some product inspectors saying they are struggling to meet deadlines.

An FDA employee reported anonymously that employees were required to show their badges at the entrance to the building, and those who were fired were given a ticket and told to go home.

The ticket, seen by Reuters, listed the phone numbers of 10 different departments where employees could call to pick up their equipment.

Other laid-off employees received emails on the morning of April 1 stating that the quality of their work or behaviour was not among the reasons for their dismissal.

• After Donald Trump became president of the United States, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was launched in Washington, D.C., under the leadership of billionaire Elon Musk. This structure is supposed to increase the efficiency of the American government in a year and a half.
• As part of the governmentʼs spending cuts, the US government has, among other things, suspended aid programs to other countries, offered federal officials the opportunity to resign and receive compensation. The US also decided to liquidate the Department of Education, and the US Central Intelligence Agency began laying off recently hired employees.

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