E&C Dem Health Leaders to RFK, Jr.: You Are Putting the Safety of Americans at Risk with Mass Firings

Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Health Subcommittee Ranking Member Diana DeGette (D-CO) wrote to Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. today expressing serious concern about the consequences of mass firings across the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In a series of letters, the Democratic Committee leaders detailed how these mass terminations at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) endanger Americans and sought answers to important questions. The letters come one day after a federal judge ordered the Trump Administration to rescind the directives that prompted the firing of thousands of federal workers across the government, ruling that the directives were illegal. 

“We are deeply concerned these widespread terminations took place without any review of these employees’ work history or without any analysis of the impacts these job losses would have on the Department’s ability to protect the health and well-being of the American people,” Pallone and DeGette wrote to Secretary Kennedy.   

The Trump Administration’s terminations have real world implications, as they include:

• Experts in nutrition, infant formula, and food safety who review food ingredients to ensure they are not harmful to Americans;
• FDA inspectors that keep dangerous products from infiltrating our store shelves;    
• Infectious disease specialists tasked with responding to both the avian flu outbreak and the emerging measles outbreak, which already claimed the life of a child; 
• Researchers tasked with finding new breakthrough treatments and cures that will save lives; and
• Staff at the World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP) who ensure the program fulfills its mission of providing care to 9/11 heroes.

“As the Secretary of HHS, we ask you to reconsider these ill-advised terminations, and to consider and take seriously the momentous responsibility you have for protecting public health,” the Democratic Health leaders continued. “The impending impact of these terminations, including exposing Americans to greater death and illness due to outbreaks of foodborne illness and infectious disease, will fall on your shoulders.”  

Pallone and DeGette requested answers to a series of questions, including: 

• Provide the total number of employees terminated at CDC, FDA, and NIH.
• How many additional layoffs at these agencies are expected?
• How many of the currently vacant positions will be left permanently vacant?
• How many employees were laid off that were tasked with responding to outbreaks including avian flu, measles, and mpox?
• How many World Trade Center Health Program employees were fired?
• Did HHS conduct any analysis of the impact these terminations would have on its ability to protect public health? 

Letter to Secretary Kennedy regarding Centers for Disease Control and Prevention firings HERE. 

Letter to Secretary Kennedy regarding Food and Drug Administration firings HERE. 

Letter to Secretary Kennedy regarding National Institutes of Health firings HERE.

UPDATE: On March 13, 2025, Ranking Member Pallone and Health Subcommittee Ranking Member DeGette sent additional letters to Secretary on job terminations at HRSA and SAMHSA. 

Letter to Secretary Kennedy regarding Health Resources and Services Administration firings HERE. 

Letter to Secretary Kennedy regarding Substance Abuses and Mental Health Services Administration firings HERE.

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