According to persons familiar with the situation, the White House is now reportedly drafting an executive order that will soon terminate thousands of employees of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The order would require the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and other health agencies to reduce their workforce by a specific amount.
According to those with knowledge of the situation, the order might be issued as early as next week, following a chance for employees to accept a buyout.
The White House may yet choose not to proceed with the plans, though, as the terms of the directive are still being finalized.
The proposed employment cuts would impact not only the FDA and CDC but also the Department of Health and Human Services, which employs over 80,000 people and includes the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the National Institutes of Health.
From licensing new medications to tracking down bird flu outbreaks and conducting cancer research, the agencies are in charge of a variety of tasks.
Depending on which employees are let go and whether they are focused in specific areas, a staffing reduction may have an impact on the activities.
On Thursday, the White House denied that an executive order pertaining to HHS was imminent.
According to those aware with the directives, agency officials have been instructed to compile lists of probationary employees who play crucial roles and need to be kept on staff as well as those who don’t.
Probationary employees typically have less than a year of service, or two years of “excepted service,” and are more easily fired than regular employees.
The Trump administration had given federal workers until the end of Thursday to decide whether to accept a buyout offer, but a judge postponed the deadline as he takes legal action against the program into consideration.
Over 40,000 government employees had announced their intention to quit under the agreement prior to the judge’s prolongation.
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