The Trump administration’s initiative to reduce the size of the federal workforce has now impacted the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), with recently hired employees responsible for reviewing food ingredients, medical devices, and other products being dismissed.
Probationary employees across the FDA received termination notices on Saturday evening, according to three FDA staffers who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
The exact number of eliminated positions remained unclear as of Sunday. However, the terminations appeared to primarily affect staff in the agency’s centers for food, medical devices, and tobacco products, including those responsible for overseeing electronic cigarettes. It was uncertain whether employees involved in drug reviews were exempt from the layoffs.
On Friday, some officials anticipated that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) would terminate 5,200 probationary employees across its agencies, based on an audio recording from a National Institutes of Health (NIH) department meeting. HHS supervises various agencies, including the NIH, FDA, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
According to sources who spoke anonymously with the AP on Friday, nearly 1,300 probationary employees at the CDC were expected to be laid off. However, as of early Sunday afternoon, approximately 700 employees had received termination notices, according to three people familiar with the matter. They noted that none of the CDC layoffs affected young doctors and researchers working in the Epidemic Intelligence Service, which tracks diseases.
The FDA, headquartered in the Maryland suburbs outside Washington, employs nearly 20,000 people. The agency has long been a target of newly sworn-in Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., who previously accused the FDA of waging a “war on public health” by failing to approve unproven treatments, including psychedelics, stem cells, and chelation therapy.
Kennedy has also advocated for banning thousands of chemicals and artificial colorings from U.S. foods. However, the FDA layoffs include staff responsible for reviewing the safety of new food additives and ingredients, according to an FDA staffer familiar with the situation.
A spokesperson for HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday afternoon.
Nearly half of the FDA’s $6.9 billion budget is funded by fees paid by the companies it regulates, such as pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers. These fees allow the agency to employ additional scientists to expedite product reviews. Consequently, eliminating these positions will not contribute to reducing government spending.
A former FDA official warned that cutting recent hires could be counterproductive, as it would remove younger staff members with more up-to-date technical expertise. The FDA workforce is largely composed of older employees who have spent one or two decades at the agency. Additionally, a 2022 report from the Government Accountability Office highlighted the FDA’s historical difficulties in recruiting and retaining talent, largely due to better pay in the private sector.
“You want to bring in new blood,” said Peter Pitts, a former FDA associate commissioner under President George W. Bush. “You want people with new ideas, greater enthusiasm, and the latest thinking in terms of technology.”
Mitch Zeller, former FDA director for tobacco, criticized the terminations, saying they were designed to “demoralize and undermine the spirit of the federal workforce.”
“The combined effect of what they’re trying to do is going to destroy the ability to recruit and retain talent,” Zeller said.
The FDA’s inspection team has been under increasing pressure in recent years, especially following a wave of departures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of the agency’s current inspectors are recent hires, but it was unclear whether they were affected by the layoffs.
FDA inspectors oversee thousands of food, drug, tobacco, and medical device facilities worldwide. However, the AP reported last year that the agency was dealing with a backlog of around 2,000 uninspected drug manufacturing facilities that had not been visited since before the pandemic.
The agency’s inspection team has also faced criticism for failing to act quickly on recent safety concerns related to infant formula, baby food, and eyedrops.