Posted on 02/14/2025 3:38:28 PM PST by SoConPubbie
The Trump administration plans to cut approximately 5,200 probationary federal employees across agencies under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) starting on Friday. The agencies impacted include the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Notably, the Atlanta-based CDC will see around 1,300 workers dismissed.
Friday morning, senior officials at HHS were informed that the layoffs will primarily affect probationary employees—hired within the last two years. Under federal labor agreements, workers still on probation are easier to dismiss than those who have worked for the government for several years or more. Concurrently, an unspecified group of contract workers at the CDC and other Health and Human Services (HHS) agencies, including several at the Vaccine Research Center at NIH, have learned their employment will be terminated.
Those federal workers slated for layoffs will receive a month of paid leave. However, HHS officials have been directed to shut off access to work systems for those dismissed by the end of the day.
These staff reductions align with broader governmental workforce reductions currently underway. President Donald J. Trump recently authorized federal worker buyouts and mandatory return-to-work protocols; the deadline for federal workers to accept the former has since passed.
New HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has expressed intentions to overhaul federal health agencies, suggesting that entire departments at the FDA are in his sights. In a social media post, Kennedy urged FDA employees to prepare for departure and maintain records.
HHS oversees more than 80,000 employees, including over 18,000 at NIH, which manages a $47 billion research budget. The CDC similarly employs 13,000 workers and has an annual budget of $9.2 billion.
The first cut is the deepest.
At first glance, I read the headline as “Set Fire to”.
For starters.
Step in the right direction.
Next fire HHS itself - the whole unconstitutional enchilada.
Fire or lay off?
Bwaha... I first read this as “set fire to 5000 HHS employees”.
LOL Me too.
Can’t wait to see the tik tok videos of the newly unemployed.
Maybe some of these unoccupied DC offices can be retrofit to apartments for veterans, orphans, and widows.
“Kennedy urged FDA employees to prepare for departure”
Did he borrow that from JFK’s “we will send a man to the moon” speech?
Lol.
This will increase unemployment numbers. The left will be all over it.
Too bad, so sad!
The 5,000 are the new hires that are taking up office space so the others can work at home.
Somebody along the way thought that each person should have been hired.
Quite a number of hiring decisions may have been correct.
As I understand things each department submits a fiscal year budget request.
A cabinet secretary needs to sit down with top level department civil servants and analyze with the cabinet secretary the necessity of budget items and the amounts.
People need to come into the office so up-to-date information can be obtained on each employee’s performance, need for mentoring and need to be on the payroll in their present role or even at all.
It sucks for anyone on probation. It’s the same with just about any govt job. They can fire you for no reason at all while on probation, because afterwards, who gets fired? It almost takes an act of God.
They were hired to vote. They no longer are needed.
Me too (to coin a phrase).
Trump might ask Congress to provide his cabinet secretaries the power to simply terminate up to 5% of their workforces without ado.
To avoid being among the 5%, a far larger percentage will perform much better.
It can take a long time before one is made a permanent federal employee - a year or even two.
That is unlike the private sector where workers become eligible for unemployment after 30 days.
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