As the Trump administration continues to gut federal health agencies, several professional health and advocacy groups are speaking out, calling for the restoration of certain offices while warning of life-threatening consequences—with one organization even urging Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to step down.
On March 27, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) cut down its workforce by 10,000 people, a move that impacted 3,500 full-time Food and Drug Administration (FDA) employees; 2,400 Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) workers; 1,200 National Institutes of Health (NIH) staffers; and 300 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) employees.
The cuts are on top of 10,000 early retirements, or “fork in the road” exits.
A few days later, Kennedy walked back 20% of the freshly implemented cuts, saying 2,000 of the layoffs were done in error, but reports indicate he may not follow through on reversing layoffs after all.
Fierce rounded up which offices are closing—some to be absorbed under a broader department—and how teams will be reduced. Not all impacted offices are accounted for here. Other groups are going further, urging calls to action to spur change.
The NIH did not provide a comment for the story. The CDC referred us to HHS for comment. An HHS spokesperson said only administrative staff positions, not inspectors, were impacted at the FDA.
A spokesperson for the CMS told Fierce Healthcare in an emailed statement that "the simple fact is, the important work serving the American people will continue, and as a result of the reorganization, CMS will be better positioned to serve the recipients of Medicare and Medicaid.
"CMS remains fully committed to protecting Medicare, Medicaid, and other essential services. Overarching changes are designed to improve the American public’s experience with CMS by increasing responsiveness, eliminating inefficiencies, and redirecting focus toward improving health outcomes—not reducing care or oversight," the spokesperson wrote.
Attacks on Kennedy
While many organizations have denounced the federal health agency cuts, the American Public Health Association (APHA) is going one step further, asking for the HHS Secretary to step aside.
The organization said Kennedy's willingness to fire these employees and then admit some of the layoffs were a mistake is just one example of his “poor and thoughtless management,” in addition to his handling of vaccine issues in recent weeks.
“He demonstrated his incompetence in only a few weeks,” APHA Executive Director Georges Benjamin, M.D., said in an April 9 statement. “Secretary Robert Kennedy is a danger to the public’s health and should resign or be fired.”
Specifically, the elimination of the CDC’s Office of Smoking and Health is one of the “most shocking” decisions yet, APHA Associate Executive Director Susan Polan told Fierce Healthcare, as this change goes against the administration’s desire to reverse chronic disease.
“APHA absolutely supports the reinstatement of these workers and assuring they have the necessary funds to do the work,” she said. “No state or local health department can replicate this work and so public health professionals, healthcare providers, policymakers, health officials in other countries are left without this critical expertise.”
Impacted agencies
While the HHS initially shared the number of staffers impacted across different agencies, the federal government hasn’t clearly defined how many employees are being cut from specific centers, institutes or programs. Most eliminated units or staffers have been announced by advocacy groups condemning the move or other publications citing sources familiar with the matter.
Below is a snapshot of the changes we do know about. If you have more information on federal health agency cuts that aren’t mentioned below, please reach out to Noah Tong ([email protected]) and Gabrielle Masson ([email protected]).
The Division of Blood Disorders and Public Health Genomics
Among the eviscerated departments is the CDC’s Division of Blood Disorders and Public Health Genomics, which takes aim at preventing disease and reducing health inequities for Americans with higher genetic risks. As part of that mission, the division oversees key programs taking aim at chronic disease, such as sickle cell disease and hemophilia. The department also helps with national blood and blood product safety monitoring.
In an April 8 letter (PDF), the American Society of Hematology (ASH) and 95 other organizations urged RFK Jr. to fully reinstate the unit. ASH also submitted a statement to a House subcommittee meeting related to 2026 funding for public health agencies on April 9.
As part of the mass layoffs, nearly all of the division’s staff were put on administrative leave, “effectively dismantling this critical division,” according to an April 8 release accompanying the letter.
“The CDC’s Division of Blood Disorders and Public Health Genomics is critical to care of people with blood diseases, and its elimination will have severe and irreversible consequences,” ASH President Belinda Avalos, M.D., said in the release. “If it is not restored, it will disrupt life-saving public health programs, halt critical research and increase preventable hospitalizations, complications and deaths.”
The unit’s elimination directly contradicts RFK Jr.’s stated commitment to addressing chronic disease, Avalos pointed out.
HHS Office of Infectious Diseases & HIV Policy
The national nonprofit HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute is calling on the HHS to restore the workers at numerous offices including the Office of Infectious Diseases and HIV Policy and the HHS Office of Minority Health, a division supporting the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program and the Bureau of Primary Health Care at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
In his first term, President Donald Trump engaged in a campaign to end the HIV epidemic, but that campaign was conducted by a now-shuttered office, reported Fierce Healthcare.
“It’s just so ironic that DOGE wants to increase government efficiency—well this is the office that did that,” Carl Schmid, executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute, told Fierce.
Five HIV division branches were impacted at the CDC. This includes workers at the HIV Prevention Capacity Development branch, a communications department, the Behavioral and Clinical Surveillance Branch, the Quantitative Sciences Branch and a research branch testing solutions against treatment and social determinants of health.
HIV services will now be provided under the new department, the Administration for a Healthy America (AHA). This office combines HRSA, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and other offices.
Division of HIV Prevention
Meanwhile, about half of the workers at the CDC’s Division of HIV Prevention—a department responsible for tracking infections, conducting research on transmission and promoting testing—lost their jobs, representing about 180 people, according to a report from NPR.
“The expertise of the staff, along with their decades of leadership, has now been destroyed and cannot be replaced,” Schmid said in an April 1 statement. “We will feel the impacts of these decisions for years to come and it will certainly, sadly, translate into an increase in new HIV infections and higher medical costs.”
“At the moment, it seems that we are in the middle of a hurricane and just waiting for the next shoe to drop,” Schmid said.
Again, the actions starkly contrast with the administration’s own words, such as President Trump’s ‘Ending the HIV Epidemic’ initiative, which is focused on reducing new HIV infections in the U.S. by at least 90% by 2030.
National Institutes for Occupational Safety and Health
More than 90% of the staff at the National Institutes for Occupational Safety and Health has been let go, according to media reports.
These workers are responsible for promoting workplace safety and certifying respirators worn by workers in dangerous situations.
National Nurses United slammed the cuts, as has the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) in a new campaign to bring back the workers.
“The proposed reductions effectively end the institute’s ability to conduct essential research and provide guidance,” AIHA CEO Lawrence Sloan in a statement. The group urges members to contact their representatives.
Epilepsy Program
The CDC’s Epilepsy Program is gone, as per the Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota.
The organization is working to help push the administration to restore the program and protect funding.
“We are taking immediate action through close work with lawmakers, as well as providing you with resources to contact legislators, raise awareness and amplify our efforts,” the group said April 8.
Similar calls to action spawned from the organization Cure Epilepsy, which cited the risk of “losing the momentum we’ve built over decades.”
Division of Violence Prevention, Office of Family Violence Prevention and Services, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, yet teams within the CDC tasked with reducing domestic violence have been greatly reduced.
Staffers within the Division of Violence Prevention have been laid off, plus the leader of the Office of Family Violence Prevention and Services was placed on administrative leave, reported NPR.
Lawmakers highlighted reductions in force (RIFs) at the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, which administers Rape Prevention and Education grants, some of the only federal funds dedicated to sexual violence, and carries out the National Institute Partner and Sexual Violence Survey.
“We ask that you immediately rescind the reduction in force for these important initiatives, and explain how you will ensure that these programs continue to operate effectively,” signed (PDF) three Democratic representatives.
Office of Minority Health and Medicaid offices
In the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), some of the impacted workers were at the Medicare-Medicaid Coordination Office, which help dual eligible enrollees, and the Office of Minority Health.
These employees helped beneficiaries navigate complicated prior authorization appeal processes and helped improve the health of underrepresented populations, explained the Medicare Rights Center.
“These firings have been done in a rushed, reckless way that does not take into account the vital work done by the experts and professionals within these agencies nor the impact the cuts will have on the people they serve,” the center said.
The CMS spokesperson noted that leadership from the CMS Innovation Center has been tapped to head the Medicare-Medicaid Coordination Office "during the transition period."
The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation warned the HHS reorganization would negatively impact members reliant on Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
“As a result of these cuts to essential programs, some people with [cystic fibrosis] will be sicker and may die prematurely,” said President and CEO Michael Boyle, M.D., in a letter to HHS April 9. “We urge the administration to reverse these rapid, large-scale RIFs.”
These concerns stretch to interruptions at CMS, where even short-term gaps in coverage can have critical consequences.
“Regional office consolidation has already impacted state Medicaid benefits, as we are hearing from patients and at [cystic fibrosis] care centers around the country that there are delays in processing applications and no response to phone calls or emails,” he continued. “For instance, one patient waited for hours to turn in a Medicaid application in-person and eventually had to leave before the application was processed because he was running out of supplemental oxygen. In another state, we learned that babies with positive CF newborn screens are not able to get a sweat test—the diagnostic test for [cystic fibrosis]—because of new delays in Medicaid enrollment.”
Division of Oral Health
The American Dental Association (ADA) was quick to call for HHS to “immediately reverse” cuts to the CDC’s Division of Oral Health.
This office works to promote oral health literacy and prevention programs like dental sealants and water fluoridation. HHS Secretary RFK Jr. is a vocal opponent to water fluoridation and plans to tell the CDC to stop recommending the practice, the Associated Press reported.
“I am disappointed with the Department of Government Efficiency’s targeting of oral health workforce reductions,” said Brett Kessler, president of the ADA. “Blunt actions like this do not make Americans healthy.”
Office of Pain Policy and Planning
The layoff wave also came crashing down on NIH’s Office of Pain Policy and Planning, a division housed within the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Only one full-time staffer was left after the cuts, according to an April 8 report from Stat News. The unit was initially made up of about 12 employees who worked on pain-related research across several federal agencies, Stat reported.
Heath Resources and Services Administrator
Former Heath Resources and Services Administrator Carole Johnson stopped short of explicitly calling on HHS to reverse the RIFs in this department, but is worried how cuts to the under-the-radar office will leave a large hole to be filled.
She noted how staff were cut at the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline, workers administering the federally qualified health center program, the oral health team and more.
"All of this presents real and unnecessary challenges for low-income communities at the same time that devastating cuts to Medicaid and SNAP are on the horizon,” said Johnson, now a senior fellow with The Century Foundation. “I’m curious who is leading change management in this operation, as it is far from obvious how firing these folks and gutting the safety net will ‘improve coordination of health resources for low-income Americans,’ as the administration has promised.”
Office of Equal Opportunity and Civil Rights
Elsewhere in the CMS, the closure of the Office Equal Opportunity and Civil Rights prompted the Muscular Dystrophy Association to join the chorus of those “deeply concerned” with the HHS reorganization.
Executive Vice President of Public Policy and Advocacy Paul Melmeyer said the now-shuttered office leaves a question mark as to whether the Trump administration will respect protections under the Americans with Disabilities Act and other laws.
“We urge careful and compassionate consideration of how these changes might affect access to care and coverage for people with neuromuscular disease,” he said in a statement.
The CMS spokesperson told Fierce Healthcare "the work of the CMS Office of Equal Opportunity and Civil Rights will be centralized within HHS to reduce redundancies within the Department."
Maternal and Child Health Bureau
Cuts also came at the CDC’s maternal and child health bureau, where the functions of these divisions will be centralized under AHA.
Groups were quick to sound the alarm on the impact of these programs going dark, including affiliates of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, and urged concerned individuals to contact the White House.
“It is unclear how the agency will continue to meet its statutory responsibilities without staff,” said Micah Hill, president of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology. “The depth of expertise held by CDC personnel will be difficult to replace. In many ways, the American public health system has been the global leader, and we are now in danger of throwing that away and doing so in a manner that may be very difficult to recover from.
A joint statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics and American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists vocalized the “alarming cuts” and the sweeping impact it would have on members.
Other areas cut:
The Brain Injury Association of America is hoping to work with HHS to ensure critical programs and funding continue after staff working on the Traumatic Brain Injury team at the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control were let go and the Administration for Community Living’s workforce was slashed by one-third, President and CEO Rick Willis told Fierce Healthcare. Staff were also put on leave at the CDC’s Healthy Brain Initiative and Building Our Largest Dementia teams, said the Alzheimer’s Association.
Three federal programs designed to advance lupus research and public health initiatives are sidelined, alerts the Lupus Foundation of America. Under the HHS reorg, two programs at the CDC are on the chopping block, while the government’s most recent funding bill deleted support for the Department of Defense’s Lupus Research Program.
A small division called the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality saw half of its workers fired. The National Health Council, Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America and American College of Physicians all said the cuts could be deeply damaging.
Effectively all employees working on asthma control and lead poisoning prevention at the CDC’s Division of Environmental Health were let go, reported STAT News. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America is pushing people to contract their representatives so funding for services within the National Asthma Control Program can remain stable.
Within the CDC is the National Center for Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities. This office includes divisions focused on infant disorders, child development and blood disorders. The Autism Society of America told Disability Scoop the organization is “deeply concerned” at cuts in this department, including the elimination of the Disability and Health Promotion branch.
At least 77 scientists working at the CDC on S.T.I.s were fired, impacting national surveillance and testing, reported the New York Times. National Coalition of STD Directors Executive Director David Harvey urged for immediately reinstating these labs to better protect the public in an email to Fierce.
The entire workforce at the CDC Arthritis Program has been let go, reported Axios. The Arthritis Foundation and American College of Rheumatology implored the administration April 3 to “consider the short-term and long-term impacts” of the changes in the name of chronic disease prevention, a stated goal of the Make America Healthy Again coalition.
Updated: April 11 at 1:27 p.m. with comment from HHS. The status of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control was also clarified.