U.S. Department of Health and Human Services officials expect most of the agency’s roughly 5,200 probationary employees to be fired Friday under the Trump administration’s move to get rid of nearly all probationary employees, according to an audio recording of a National Institutes of Health department meeting.
In that meeting, an NIH office director told employees that some probationary staff with specialized skills might be spared. Probationary staff being terminated would receive an email Friday afternoon, according to audio shared with The Associated Press.
Among those being cut are nearly 1,300 probationary employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — roughly one-tenth of the agency’s workforce.
The Atlanta-based agency’s leadership was notified of the decision Friday morning. The verbal notice came from HHS officials in a meeting with CDC leaders, according to a federal official who was at the meeting. The official was not authorized to discuss it and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
Some portion of the affected employees are supposed to receive four weeks paid administrative leave, according to the federal official and the recording.
HHS officials did not answer questions about the specifics of the layoffs. In an emailed statement, Andrew Nixon, the department’s director of communications, wrote: “HHS is following the Administration’s guidance and taking action to support the President’s broader efforts to restructure and streamline the federal government. This is to ensure that HHS better serves the American people at the highest and most efficient standard.”
HHS employs more than 80,000 people and runs 13 supporting agencies. Besides the CDC, they include the NIH and the Food and Drug Admini